World Soil Day

Healthy soils at the heart of more resilient and greener cities. The World Soil Day Celebration highlights the Importance of healthy soils for food security , climate resilience and public wellbeing, as FAO awards two major international soil prizes

 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today marked World Soil Day 2025 with a global celebration in Rome under the theme “ Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities. ” The Day underscores the crucial role that soil health plays not only in agriculture but also in shaping more resilient, greener and healthier urban environments . With two-thirds of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, urban soils are under increasing pressure from sealing, pollution and unplanned expansion . These trends threaten the soil's ability to produce food, regulate temperature, filter water, store carbon and support biodiversity. Rapid urban growth is also consuming fertile peri-urban croplands—some nearly twice as productive as the global average—placing additional strain on agrifood systems. This year’s World Soil Day carries special significance as it coincides with FAO’s 80th anniversary —eight decades of partnership, innovation and action for better produc...

Endorsed by the UN General Assembly and facilitated by FAO and its Global Soil Partnership , World Soil Day has become a global movement promoting sustainable soil management and raising public awareness across governments, academia, civil society and communities. Urban soils—long overlooked—are increasingly recognized as essential components of sustainable, green cities. They produce food, support green spaces that filter water, buffer floods, cool urban temperatures, store carbon and enhance public health and quality of life. Emerging evidence also shows that contact with biodiverse and healthy soils helps regulate the human immune system. FAO continues to support countries in improving their soil management through flagship initiatives including the Recarbonization of Global Agricultural Soils ( RECSOIL ), the Global Soil Doctors Programme , and the work of FAO’s Technical Networks and Regional Soil Partnerships , which help translate science into practical solutions for farmers, m...

  Roles and functions of the soil.

  This document presents the first major global assessment ever on soils and related issues. Why was such an assessment not carried out before? We have taken soils for granted for a long time. Nevertheless, soils are the foundation of food production and food security, supplying plants with nutrients, water, and support for their roots. Soils function as Earth’s largest water filter and storage tank; they contain more carbon than all above-ground vegetation, hence regulating emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; and they host a tremendous diversity of organisms of key importance to ecosystem processes. However, we have been witnessing a reversal in attitudes, especially in light of serious concerns expressed by soil practitioners in all regions about the severe threats to this natural resource. In this more auspicious context, when the international community is fully recognizing the need for concerted action , the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS)...

  Healthy soils are a basic prerequisite to meeting varied needs for food, biomass (energy), fiber, fodder, and other products, and to ensuring the provision of essential ecosystem services in all regions of the world. However, humankind is facing unprecedented pressures on soil resources. In particular, soil degradation of various types including sealing due to fast urbanization are taking their heavy toll, threatening food security and ecological balance. With the Sustainable Development Goals currently under consideration and soon to be implemented, it is fundamental to ensure sustainable management of soils in order to make these goals a reality. Fortunately, there is recognition of the need to act more forcefully at all levels, nationally, regionally and internationally in order to reverse alarming trends and to maintain the healthy soils required for feeding growing populations . Most symbolically, the General Assembly of the United Nations has formally endorsed the celebrati...

   KEY ROLE OF SOIL Help to combat and adapt to climate change by storing carbon and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

  KEY ROLE OF SOIL: Host a quarter of the planet's biodiversity and contribute to the global cycles that make all life possible.

  KEY ROLE OF SOIL: Minimize surface evaporation and maximize water use efficiency and productivity

  KEY ROLE OF SOIL: Capture and store water for crops.

KEY ROLE OF SOIL: Provide water infiltration through soil, trapping pollutants and preventing them from leaching into the groundwater.

KEY ROLE OF SOIL: Provide fibre, fuel, medicinal products and other ecosystem services.

 Soil nutrients are essential for high agricultural productivity, which can only be obtained when all nutrients are in the optimal supply range. Plant available phosphorus can be used as an indicator of chemical soil nutrients as it is a stable element, and its mobility in the soil is limited. When measuring soil nutrients , laboratories may provide a complete analysis containing values for nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). Plant available phosphorus was chosen given the nature of its mobility, but N and K can also be consid

   Soil Salinity can be a natural phenomenon (reflecting the geological/ lithological/climatic conditions of the area, or proximity to a coastal marine environment), or the result of anthropogenic activities such as the use of salt-rich water for irrigation or the adverse impacts of poorly managed irrigation in dry regions . Halophytic plants, white scabs, an oily appearance or lack of plant growth are all signs of salinity in the field. Salinity can be estimated using electrical conductivity (EC).

  Soil biological diversity reflects the variability among living organisms including a myriad of organisms not visible to the naked eye, such as microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, fungi, protozoa) and meso-fauna (e.g., nematodes, acari and springtails), as well as the more familiar macro-fauna (e.g. earthworms, ants and termites). The most recommended methods for soil biodiversity include the counting and identification of macro and mesoorganisms by a trained person, following extractions in the laboratory (e.g., Berlese funnel, Baermann funnel or pitfall traps in the field). A regular genomic analysis biodiversity to be assessed more accurately at the microbial level. It is recommended to associate at least one of these methods with the respiration rate mentioned in the recommended indicators in order to better interpret the values obtained.

  Water capacity refers to the water held in the soil between its field capacity and permanent wilting point. It represents the Ecosystem service of regulating water quality and availability in the landscape (easily available water is held between -10 and -200 kPa). This parameter can also help assess the physical condition of a soil (porosity and structure) as wateravailability is highly dependent on it.

  Field parameters for evaluation of soil physical properties can be a good complement to the recommended set of indicators and proposed parameters.  8) Soil infiltration rate is a measure of how fast water enters the soil under non-saturated conditions. Water entering too slowly can reflect ponding conditions, soil compaction or erosion risk (surface runoff). 9) Soil penetration resistance can be useful in estimating soil compaction. It gives an indication of root-impeding layers in the soil and can be used to compare relative strengths among similar soil types. Penetration resistance can also be used to identify hardpans, zones of compaction, or dense soil layers.

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a central role in maintaining soil functions and preventing soil degradation. Soils constitute the largest organic carbon pool on the Earth and play a critical role in regulating climate and mitigating climate change through trade-offs between greenhouse gas emission and carbon sequestration. For this reason, SOM is strategic for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and global stores of SOM should be stabilized or increased. A loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) due to inappropriate land use or the use of poor soil management or cropping practices can cause a decline in soil quality and soil structure, and increase soil erosion, potentially leading to emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. On the other hand, appropriate land use and soil management can lead to increased SOC and improved soil quality that can partially mitigate the rise of atmospheric CO2 . • Increase biomass production by increasing water availability for plants using methods (e.g.,...

  Soil may filter, fix and neutralize, but also release pollutants when conditions change (e.g. heavy metal release with lowering pH). Therefore, prevention of soil contamination remains the best way to maintain healthy soils and food safety in accordance to the Sustainable Development Goals. Contaminants can enter soils from a variety of sources including agricultural inputs, land application of by-products, atmospheric deposition, flood and irrigation water, accidental spills, inappropriate urban waste and wastewater management, and other means. Accumulation and contamination occur if the rate of addition of a given contaminant exceeds its rate of removal from the soil system. Negative consequences may include plant toxicities and subsequent productivity declines, contamination of water and off-site areas through sediment transport, and increased human and animal health risks through accumulation in the food-chain. • Governments are encouraged to establish and implement regulatio...

  Human-induced acidification of agricultural and forest soils is primarily associated with removal of base cations and loss of soil buffering capacity or increases in nitrogen and sulfur inputs (e.g. legume pastures fertilizer inputs, atmospheric deposition). Soils with low pHbuffering capacity and/or high aluminium content are most prevalent when they have a low content of weatherable minerals (e.g. ancient, strongly weathered soils, and soils developed from quartz-rich parent materials). • Monitoring soil acidity and minimizing surface and sub-surface soil acidity by using proper amendments (such as lime, gypsum and clean ash); • Balanced fertilizer and organic amendment applications; and • Appropriate use of acidifying fertilizer types.