DECEMBER 5 IS WORLD SOIL DAY
One of the most significant parts of our ecosystem is the soil. Soil plays a vital role in contributing food, water, energy, etc, but we take advantage of all that the soil has to offer, moreover our ignorance causes much more damage, sometimes irreparably. As such ‘World Soil Day’ aims to battle these problems and the best way celebrating this day is to educate ourselves to take care about the soil since we can never survive without the land.
In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) made a resolution proposing the 5th of December be world soil day in order to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human well-being. The world soil day was first instituted in Thailand by former king Bhumibol Adulyadej, which is why its date is set on this monarch’s birthday, who was one of the main proponents of this initiative.
The Food and Agriculture of the UN (FAO) Conference, in June 2013, unanimously endorsed World Soil Day and requested official adoption at the 68th UN General Assembly. In December 2013, the 68th UN General Assembly declared 5 December as the World Soil Day. Since then every year on this day, more than 60,000 soil scientists the whole world over observe World Soil Day under different themes. It is high time it should be a global phenomena involving all the farmers who work daily with the soil rather than just the concerned scientists.
The theme for the year 2021 is ‘Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity’ which aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, fighting soil salinization, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health. Among the many problems Soil salinization and sodification are the major soil degradation processes threatening ecosystem and are recognized as being the most important problems at the global level for agricultural production, food security ad sustainability in the arid and semi-arid regions.
World soil day is meant to draw attention to the critical role of the many soil types and how they contribute to ecosystems, biodiversity of plants and the animal life those plants sustain, and to human agricultural endeavours. Soil contains water and minerals that enter into plants and then into animals and people. Thus, soil is important as nutrition starts from it.
As such the key emphasis of the world soil day celebration is to focus on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
Article contributed by Division of Soil Conservation, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mokokchung
