The theme of this year’s World Soil Day was ‘Halt Soil Salinisation, Boost Soil Productivity’.
There is a pressing need to address global soil health, particularly as, according to the United Nations (UN), soil salinisation takes away up to 1.5mn hectares of farmland per year from production. Given rising global populations and their accompanying pressures on food supplies and other resources, it is imperative that policymakers begin to pay closer attention to these issues.
Soil is a non-renewable resource. Its loss and degradation are not recoverable within a single human lifespan. When soil is used for crop production purposes and the organic matter and nutrient contents are not restored, soil fertility declines, and delicate ecosystem balances are affected. Soil is the basis for food, feed, fuel and fibre production. Soil degradation, therefore, threatens the ability to feed the world's population, increases carbon emissions, and serves as a warning sign to forthcoming mass migration. A change in farming practices is crucial.
In the Middle East, a region characterised as highly susceptible to degradation and desertification, the need to address and implement changes in farming soil practices is even more pressing. Improving soil health is the foundation of sustainable agriculture and a crucial element in eliminating food insecurity.
One of the biggest challenges to sustainable soil management is soil erosion, which is the displacement of the upper most fertile layer of soil. Among the main causes of soil erosion are deforestation, overgrazing, the use of agrochemicals and construction, and recreational activities. All of which are common occurrences in the Arab region. To address these issues, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia has suggested a series of actions, including: the adoption of integrated soil, crop and water management techniques and investing in climate smart agricultural practices.
An additional challenge in the region is soil salinity, the concentration of salts in soil. If the level of salt in the soil water is too high, water may flow from the plant roots back into the soil, causing dehydration of the plant and yield decline. According to the 'Arab Horizon 2030 Report: Prospects for Enhancing Food Security in the Arab Region', salinity alone is estimated to have caused $1bn in lost crop yields across the region. An effective method of allaying its effects is the use of nuclear techniques to support crop production, such as the use of a stable nitrogen isotope to optimise water and fertiliser use.
Plant diversity is a key component of healthy soils. It maintains the natural water cycles that enables soil, plant, and water systems to recover from environmental stresses by improving the entry and storage of water and resistance to erosion. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, soil biodiversity, which is the variety of organisms that live in the soil, is a major determinant of the fertility and productivity of land. This can be boosted by the efficient use of soil water and nutrients, erosion control and maintaining ground cover by planting more trees. Planting more trees also addresses the issues of desertification and land degradation. In addition, it enhances food security.
In line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the UN’s Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, QBG supports local and global healthy soil efforts, and ecosystem preservation. It achieves this through environmental awareness campaigns and educational programs on food security, botany, and planting, as well as on-the-ground restoration and conservation projects through the rehabilitation of endemic plants and planting wild trees in their natural habitats, which reduce carbon emissions and limit desertification.
Global reforestation efforts and tree planting also contribute to healthy stable soils. The annual Ghars tree-planting campaign aims to plant 2,022 trees in the leadup to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. As part of the initiative, QBG recently planted its 2,000th tree with the US embassy in Qatar, as part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture. It also signed an agreement with Qatar Red Crescent Society to donate 2.5mn trees for the latter’s volunteers to plant over a period of 10 years around Qatar, as part of a wider initiative by the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organisation across the Arab world and in line with Qatar’s pledge to plant 10mn trees by 2030 under the Middle East Green Initiative.
