TEHRAN — Chief of the Department of Environment said that the department is waiting for the Majlis to pass the soil bill, aiming to promote sustainable soil and land management in the country.

Speaking on the occasion of the 2015 International Year of Soils, Masoumeh Ebtekar expressed hope that Majlis would pass the bill as soon as possible, the Mehr news agency reported.

“We have done our best to prevent soil pollution caused by overusing pesticides through managing our chemicals,” she noted.

“We are suffering from both soil and water crises, and we can’t afford to lose more time, we have to make a national pact to solve the current problems,” she added.

Kambiz Bazargan, the director of the Water and Soil Research Institution, warned that soil pollution has contributed to air pollution and dust storms in the country.

“Some ancient civilizations collapsed as a result of soil erosion, so we have to take the importance of soil into consideration for the sake of national security,” he cautioned.

The quality of soil directly affects water, energy, and weather, he stated.

The area of fertile soils covering the world's surface is limited and increasingly subject to degradation, poor management and loss to urbanization.

It is calculated that by 2050 when the earth population reaches up to 9 billion the soil has the capacity to produce food for two billion which is a catastrophe.

In order to attract the world attention to the issue, December 5 is observed as the International Day of Soil since 2012 and the current year is named as the international year of soil.

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