TEHRAN – A ceremony will be held on the occasion of World Soil Day 2021 at the Tehran Permanent International Fairground on December 5, with the theme of "Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity".

The event will be organized in cooperation with the Department of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, and activists in the field of soil and environmental protection.

Activists in the field of soil protection will be appreciated. And an exhibition will be held to display the latest technologies in this field, IRNA reported on Sunday.

Iran loses 2 billion tons of soil annually, which according to the 2018 report of the UNDP, is one-twelfth of all global soil erosion. In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) made a resolution proposing December 5 to 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.

This natural resource hosts over 25 percent of biodiversity and about 90 percent of living organisms spend part of their life cycle in the soil; it also plays an important role in supporting animal biodiversity above ground, including wildlife and domesticated livestock.

The most widely recognized function of the soil is its support for food production. It is estimated that 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced on the soil. Healthy soil supplies the essential nutrients, water, and oxygen that our food-producing plants need to grow and flourish.

Soil is also crucial for ensuring the continued growth and maintenance of natural and managed vegetation, including diverse forests and grasslands and the huge breadth of species and varieties that are cultivated or managed for their food, feed, fuel, fiber, and medicinal products.

Soil erosion 8 times above global average

According to the latest statistics, Iran loses 2 billion tons of soil annually, which according to the 2018 report of the United Nations Development Program, the total amount of global soil erosion is 24 billion tons, so one-twelfth of all global soil erosion occurs in Iran.

This is while, Iran has about one percent of the world's land area, which means that its erosion rate is eight times higher than the global average, so Iran is suffering from severe degradation and soil erosion.

To understand the importance of soil protection, it should be said that it takes an average of 400 years to form a centimeter of soil on the planet.

In Iran, due to the severe erosion, it takes an estimated 800 years to produce a centimeter of soil, so the attention of the people and the government should be on average twice the global average.

Each ton of soil is valued at $28 in terms of metal ores, so the loss of two billion tons of soil annually means the annual loss of $56 billion, which is more than revenues from the sale of oil and agricultural products, gardens, livestock, poultry, and fisheries.

FB/MG