World Soil Day 2016 is celebrated on December 5 at FAO headquarters in Rome, FAO regional offices and through national and local events.
The positive contributions of pulses to soil properties are many: they fix the atmosphere nitrogen and improve its biodiversity, fertility and structure.
That is why the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) dedicates this year’s World Soil Day to pulses. Also, owing to their nutritional benefits, 2016 was declared the International Year of Pulses.
The campaign aims to connect people with soils and raise awareness on their critical importance in our lives. Soil is an essential resource and a vital part of the natural environment from which most of the global food is produced.
According to the United Nations, soil provides living space for humans, as well as essential ecosystem services, which are important for water regulation and supply, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and cultural services. But soils are under pressure from increases in population, higher demands for food and competing land uses. Approximately 33 per cent of our global soils are degraded, and policy-makers around the world are exploring opportunities to embrace sustainable development via the Sustainable Development Goals.
In his message to commemorate the global observance, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said: “On World Soil Day, I call for greater attention to the pressing issues affecting soils, including climate change, antimicrobial resistance, soil-borne diseases, contamination, nutrition and human health.”
The UN Secretary-General pointed out that, in a modern world where the population is growing, cities are expanding, the climate is changing and more food is needed, there is an urgent need for healthy soils to ensure the essential services they provide.
Undoubtedly, sustainable management systems and practices will unlock the full potential of soils to support food production, store and supply clean water, preserve biodiversity, sequester more carbon, and increase resilience to a changing climate.
Sustainable soil management will also advance progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change. It should become the worldwide norm in order to optimise our use of soil now and preserve and protect it over the long-term.
Pulses, also known as grain legumes, can boost soil health while supporting healthier and nutritious diets. Dry beans, peas, lentils and other pulses combine with soil in a unique symbiosis that protects the environment, enhances productivity, contributes to adapting to climate change and provides fundamental nutrients to the soil and subsequent crops. Pulses can fix atmospheric nitrogen in their roots. By freeing soil-bound phosphorous to make it accessible and usable by plants, pulses also reduce the need to apply external fertilizer. These are all drivers of sustainable development.
The international community has identified collaborative and coordinated ways to protect and sustainably manage soils. There are valuable recommendations in the recently endorsed Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management developed by the Global Soil Partnership.
Following these guidelines will help pave the way to boosting the health of soil and fully unlocking its potential to support mitigation and adaption actions in a changing climate.
The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, adopted a resolution proposing December 5 as World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human wellbeing.
In Guyana, in an effort to consolidate national food security, preparation has begun for the submission of a proposal for Grant funding from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to the tune of $US10 million. At the observation in Rome, Italy, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder called for world leaders to better adapt to climate change, by understanding the impacts it has on food security.
However, for Guyana, the role of women in the food system remains a critical aspect, and if there is to be a national policy change equitable opportunities to earn and learn should be compatible with healthy and safe pregnancies and child feeding.
