Ben said:

"He is is Indonesian and is thinking of bringing some soil from the countryside because of its nutrient and 'untouched' properties."

One of the websites that I have used for information comes from your friends neck of the woods. Although I didn't see a specific answer to your question, there is much information (composting, soil improvement, gardening) that may be of help. Below is a link to the page referred to. I trust this aids in some manner...

Blutranes

Here is a link that might be useful: Journeytoforever

Adding organic matter to the soil your friend has will do the same thing, better and cheaper, without the concern about potential disease pathogens.

Wow! I'm just wondering how he'd ever get all this soil through customs. I went to a gardening course at Great Dixter Gardens in England a couple of years ago, and brought a few plants back with me. The regulations on what I could bring back were extremely strict. I had a list of the plants I could NOT bring back when I went over so I didn't buy anything on that list. The gardens held these courses twice yearly so they were quite accustomed to preparing the plants to meet our custom's requirements. They had an official British plant inspector there the day we bought our plants in order to "certify" each one. One of the requirements was that ALL of the soil had to be removed from the plant -- not a SPECK of dirt could remain. And yet, even with this inspector's certification, and proper selection and preparation of all of my plants, the custom's officer in Orlando still held me up until my plants could be re-inspected by one of their "official" inspectors who - unfortunately - did not happen to be there. As a result, I ended up missing my flight, staying overnight at the Orlando airport hotel, and waiting until this new inspector could "clear" my plants! Fortunately, the airline was very understanding, and did not charge me any additional money to change my ticket to the next day, but it still meant hanging around an extra 27 hours -- plus the cost of the hotel and extra meals of course -- just to collect my plants! I'd really like to know if he is able to get "organic material" into the U.S., because my getting my plants in hinged on the very fact that my plants were not only healthy but were so well washed that they did not bring with them any trace of "organic material"! MacThayer

"I'm just wondering how he'd ever get all this soil through customs. "

No customs involved. He's not planning to bring it from another country, but from the countryside (as in outside the urban/suburban area).

Okay, he's bringing country soil to town. How much was he planning on collecting? Several tons? A few buckets?

Is there something specifically wrong with the old soil, or does he just have the idea of 'revitalizing' it with new soil?

Personally, I think kimmsr is right, just making some compost would probably do as well, or better.

If he wants to sterilize the soil, wouldn't this kind of kill off anything beneficial that he was trying to add, like soil microbes and stuff? I guess he could solarize it with clear plastic (if he has access).

If he does have access to compost materials and he's only bringing in a few buckets of new soil, he could probably make a compost pile and layer the new soil among the other compost ingredients, and multiply the microbes and kill off the pathogens at the same time. But I don't think this would work with a large amount of soil, as the temps probably wouldn't get high enough to do any good.

Is there a soil testing facility in Indonesia? Maybe it would be better to have his existing soil tested, and any deficiencies remedied, than importing soil that might have the same basic problems. If they don't test soil there, he might want to contact Kinsey Labs here in the U.S., as they do soil tests from all over the world.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Kinsey Agricultural Services

Sorry, but I'm dying to know. What "urban/suburban" area is so "big brotherish" that they would quarantine DIRT before it could be brought inside its borders? Wow! Obviously I've lived in the countryside too long. MacThayer