Soil is a living system where all biochemical activities proceed through enzymatic processes. Soil enzymes are important for catalyzing innumerable reactions necessary for life processes of microorganisms in soils, decomposition of organic residues, cycling of nutrients and formation of organic matter and soil structure. They are indicators of microbial activities in soil and are often considered as an indicator of soil health and fertility. Agricultural management affects the activity of soil enzymes such as phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease. This review evaluates selected studies containing soil enzymes, their activities and the effective agricultural management on them. In conventional agriculture using synthetic inputs such as pesticides, fungicides and herbicides have negative effects on soil enzymatic activity and soil productivity, but management practices used in sustainable agriculture are particularly beneficial for farmland wildlife. Organic resources such as manure, compost, vermicompost and cover crops enhance soil microbial biomass, soil enzyme activities and soil fertility, leading to increase crop production.
