World Soil Day 2023

World Soil Day 2023

Context: Every year on December 5, people around the globe come together to celebrate World Soil Day (WSD).

Background:
• The United Nations celebrates December 5 as World Soil Day every year to commemorate the birthday of the late King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej for his lifelong commitment to raising awareness of the importance of sustainable soil management and rehabilitation for food security, poverty alleviation and more.

Theme:
• According to the United Nations (UN), the theme for World Soil Day 2023 is ‘Soil and water, a source of life.’ Explaining the theme, the UN writes, “Our planet’s survival depends on the precious link between soil and water.

How is soil formed?
• Soil formation is a complex process that occurs over hundreds to thousands of years. It involves several steps and factors.
• Weathering: This is the initial stage where rocks break down to form soil particles. The influences of heat, cold, water, wind, and rain cause the bedrock to crumble. Weathering can be a physical, chemical, or biological process.
• Erosion: Elements of weather cause the rocks, soil, and plant matter in an area to erode and become sediment that contains various minerals and nutrients that were in the previous materials.
• Hardening: The minerals harden over time to form deposits within the ground. These will later combine with other elements to create the final soil.
• Combining: After humans, animals, or environmental events cause the mineral deposits in the ground to become loose, they combine with organic matter in upper layers of the Earth and build until the soil forms.

Which factors influence soil formation process?
• Parent Material: This is the initial state of the solid matter making up a soil. It can consist of consolidated rocks, and it can also include unconsolidated deposits such as river alluvium, lake or marine sediments, glacial tills, loess (silt-sized, wind-deposited particles), volcanic ash, and organic matter.
• Topography: The shape and features of the land surface, including its relief and the position of its natural and man-made features.
• Climate: The long-term weather patterns in an area, particularly temperature and rainfall.
• Organisms: The plants and animals that live in the soil and contribute to its formation.
• Time: The length of time the soil has been forming.

What is the need for Soil-centric agriculture?
• Healthy soils create a healthy world. According to scientists, soil-centric agriculture encompasses the following.
• Use of cover crops, use of mulching, promote Agroforestry, encourage crop diversification, eliminate farm residue burning.
• Adopt direct-seeded and aerobic rice in place of traditional puddled and flooded rice.
• Reduce use of chemicals and enhance use-efficiency by improving soil health
• Use precision agriculture, digital innovations, robotics, and artificial intelligence
• Adopt conservation agriculture, which involves no-till, residue mulch, crop rotations and the integration of crops with trees and livestock to restore soil nutrients and improve soil health.
• Mechanisation for deep placement of fertilisers is another option for fertiliser use efficiency.

How nutrient deficient are Indian soils?
• Most Indian soils are deficient in organic carbon and macronutrients, flagged a new report.
• More than 50 million soil samples from across India were tested during 2015-16 to 2018-19 in the government-approved laboratories to understand the state of the country’s soils.
• About 85 per cent of the samples were found to be deficient in organic carbon; 97 per cent samples were deficient in available nitrogen; 83 per cent were deficient in phosphorus; and 71 per cent in potassium, showed the State of Biofertilizers and Organic Fertilizers in India.
• Soils were deficient in micronutrients as well: About 47 per cent, 39 per cent, 37 per cent and 36 per cent soil samples were deficient in boron, zinc, iron and sulphur respectively.

Conclusion
• India’s sustainable development trajectory should prioritize soil health as a fundamental component of sustainable growth.