World Soil Day is celebrated globally with various events and activities to raise awareness about soil conservation and sustainable management.
The theme of World Soil Day 2024 is ‘Soil Care: Measuring, Monitoring, Managing’. (Photo: Shutterstock)
World Soil Day is celebrated every year on December 5 to highlight the importance of healthy soil. The day serves as a reminder of the important role of soil in our ecosystem and the need to preserve and protect this invaluable resource for future generations. It also aims to create awareness about soil degradation. This natural resource is made up of a mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and organisms.
World Soil Day is celebrated globally with various events and activities to raise awareness about soil conservation and sustainable management.
World Soil Day 2024 theme
Each year, World Soil Day is given a special theme that focuses on a particular aspect of soil health and conservation. These are carefully selected to address current issues and promote sustainable practices. The theme of this year’s World Soil Day is “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage”. It emphasizes the need for accurate soil data and information to support sustainable soil management.
World Soil Day 2024: The Date
The day was first recommended in 2002 by the International Union of Soil Sciences, supported by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United States. The day was then established under the framework of the Global Soil Partnership under the leadership of the Kingdom of Thailand.
Later in 2013, the FAO conference endorsed the day and urged that World Soil Day be formally adopted at the 68th UN General Assembly. UNGA declared 5 December 2014 as the first World Soil Day.
World Soil Day 2024: Key Facts
- An estimated 95 percent of our food comes directly or indirectly from soil. It provides essential nutrients, water, oxygen and root support to plants to grow and thrive.
- According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 33 percent of the Earth’s soil is already degraded due to factors such as deforestation and mining. It is also estimated that by 2050, 90 percent may be degraded.
- It can take 1,000 years to develop just 2-3 cm of soil. It forms through slow physical, chemical and biological weathering of bedrock.
- Soil is vital to our existence as it is a basic resource for life on earth.
- It is made up of layers including organic layer, topsoil, subsoil and bedrock.
- Clay comes in many different colors, including red, brown, yellow, black, and gray.
- Soil is one of our most important weapons in the fight against climate change, as it holds more carbon than the atmosphere and all the world’s plants and forests combined.
World Soil Day 2024: Quotes
“All virtues have their roots in the soil of praise of virtue.” – The Dalai Lama
Soil is not our property. It has come to us as a legacy, and we must pass it on to future generations.” – Sidhguru
“Soil is a living ecosystem, and a farmer’s most valuable asset. A farmer’s productivity is directly related to the health of his soil.” – Howard Warren Buffett
“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we will reap in the harvest of action.” — Meister Eckhart
“As a farmer, man became closely associated with the landscape itself, firmly rooted in the soil that supported him. Sometimes the soil seemed very kind and then stubborn and unfriendly, but this man was always a challenge to the cleverness of — Charles E. Kellogg.