BLOG 4 SOILS:WHERE LIFE BEGINS

WORLD SOIL DAY: DEC. 05 


Unlike other natural resources, the degradation of soil is something that does not come to notice easily by the inexperienced eye. It is a slow, silent process, which takes its sweet time, but the effects can be disastrous. Destruction and loss of acres of land or soil can happen due to carelessness. Without soil, the ever-growing population will remain underfed since plants won’t have any space to grow. Considering the importance of Soil, the International Union of Soil Sciences in 2002 adopted a resolution proposing that December 05 be celebrated as the World Soil Day to recognize the importance of Soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contribution to human well being. As a consequence to the resolution of the IUSS, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in June 2013 at its 68th General Assembly unanimously declared Dec 5 to be celebrated as World Soil Day every year. The date of 5 December was chosen because it corresponds with the official birthday of the late H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand, who was one of the main proponents of this initiative.

THEME OF WSD 2022: This year the World Soil Day is celebrated with the theme ‘Soils: Where food begins’. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health

It is estimated that to feed the burgeoning population, the country would require about 311 million tons of food grains (cereals and pulses) by 2030 and this requirement would further increase to 350 million tons by 2050 when India's population would be around 1.8 billion. The amount of land is limited and thus ensuring food security for all will definitely be a challenge. The food security has to be attained despite shrinking and fragmentation of lands, climatic adversities, land degradation and many other related factors. Restoration of degraded lands therefore provides an opportunity to cater to the food grains requirements of the ever increasing population. In the country, nearly 147 million ha of land is subjected to soil degradation including 94 million ha from water erosion, 23 million ha from salinity/alkalinity/acidification, 14 million ha from water-logging/flooding, 9 million ha from wind erosion and 7 million ha from a combination of factors due to different forces. The Government of India has also fixed a target of restoring 26 million ha of degraded lands, including salt-affected soils, by the year 2030 to ensure food security for the people. Estimates suggest that every year nearly 10% additional area is getting salinized and by 2050, around 50% of the arable land would be salt-affected. Situation is alarming and we have to act urgently to ensure that things do not go to a point of no return.

            World Soil Day aims to attain global attention and support for the management of the precious resource from where the food begins. Let us all pledge and commit ourselves for its proper maintenance and care.

            

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