{"id":33322,"date":"2024-12-06T18:17:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T12:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=33322"},"modified":"2024-12-19T20:28:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T14:58:29","slug":"world-soil-day-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-12-2024\/world-soil-day-2024","title":{"rendered":"World Soil Day 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>World Soil Day, celebrated annually on December 5, raises global awareness about the critical role of soil in sustaining life.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>World Soil Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Background: <\/strong>The concept of World Soil Day was introduced by the <strong>International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The FAO Conference unanimously endorsed World Soil Day in June<strong> 2013<\/strong> and in December 2013, the <strong>UN General Assembly<\/strong> responded by designating 5 December 2014 as the first official World Soil Day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Theme for 2024:<\/strong> Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Importance of Soil<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Foundation of Life:<\/strong> Soil supports plant growth by providing essential nutrients, water, and oxygen, forming the base of terrestrial food chains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ecosystem Services: <\/strong>Acts as a natural water filter, removing pollutants and replenishing groundwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Regulation:<\/strong> Plays a significant role in carbon sequestration, mitigating climate change by storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biodiversity Hotspot: <\/strong>Soil houses diverse organisms, from microbes to insects, which facilitate nutrient cycling and enhance plant health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Soil Degradation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Soil degradation refers to the <strong>decline in soil health<\/strong> due to factors such as poor land management, deforestation, overgrazing, urbanization, and overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The<strong> FAO<\/strong> estimates that <strong>33%<\/strong> of global soils are moderately to severely degraded.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In India <\/strong>90% of topsoil lacks nitrogen and phosphorus, while 50% is deficient in potassium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges to Soil Health<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nutrient Loss:<\/strong> Unchecked erosion has led to the depletion of fertile topsoil, affecting crop yields.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Excessive Chemical Use:<\/strong> Overuse of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has degraded soil quality, disrupted microbial activity, and reduced organic carbon levels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urbanization:<\/strong> Rapid urban expansion has encroached upon arable land, further reducing soil availability for agriculture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Change: <\/strong>Erratic rainfall patterns and rising temperatures exacerbate soil degradation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives for Soil Conservation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Soil Health Card Scheme:<\/strong> It provides farmers with soil nutrient status reports to encourage balanced fertilizer use and improve productivity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promotion of Organic Farming:<\/strong> Initiatives like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) encourage organic farming practices to maintain soil health.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA):<\/strong> It focuses on enhancing soil health through integrated farming systems and agroforestry practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Global Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Global Soil Partnership (GSP):<\/strong> It is an FAO-led initiative to improve global soil governance and promote sustainable soil management.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD):<\/strong> It works to prevent land degradation and promote sustainable land management globally.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It has a pledge for <strong>land degradation neutrality (LDN) by 2030.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>4 per 1000 Initiative:<\/strong> It aims to increase soil carbon stocks by 0.4% annually to combat climate change and enhance soil health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Integrated Soil Management: <\/strong>Combine organic and chemical fertilizers to restore soil nutrients sustainably.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enhanced Monitoring:<\/strong> Use modern technologies such as satellite imagery and AI-based tools to monitor soil health and degradation trends.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Community Engagement: <\/strong>Encourage local communities to adopt soil conservation techniques like contour plowing and crop rotation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/environment\/world-soil-day-it-is-time-to-shift-focus-on-its-health-as-it-sustains-ecosystems-food-security-and-climate-resilience\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Soil Day, celebrated annually on December 5, raises global awareness about the critical role of soil in sustaining life.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33322"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33976,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322\/revisions\/33976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}