About 2 billion tons of soil are eroded in Iran annually, costing the country a covert damage of $56 billion, according to the head of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry.
Kazem Khavazi, who was speaking at an event held on the occasion of World Soil Day on Tuesday in Tehran, added that this damage is five times Iran’s annual agricultural imports, Fars News Agency reported.
“About 10 tons in each hectare of land are eroded in Iran, which is above the global average,” he said.
The official noted that severe soil erosion sharply reduces agricultural output, which indicates the vital role of soil in food security.
Gerold Bodeker, a representative of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, was also present at the event. He said FAO is expanding its cooperation with Iran on sustainable soil and natural resources management.
“FAO’s latest reports reveal that soil erosion across the globe reduces agricultural output by 4% annually,” he said.
Bodeker said FAO is looking forward to furthering its collaboration with the Iranian government in the sustainable management of soil and natural resources.
“FAO urges its member states to adopt policies motivating the wide spectrum of stakeholders in pursuing farming approaches that promote the sustainable management of soil,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“Agroecology, conservation agriculture, organic farming, zero tillage farming, and agroforestry,” are among the main practices advocated by FAO in this regard.
He emphasized that soil is a finite resource, meaning its loss is not recoverable within a human lifespan.
“Erosion is the greatest threat to soil health and soil ecosystem services in many regions of the world. Erosion causes the removal of the fertile surface soil, incorporation of denser subsoil into the surface layer and a decrease in the rooting zone of the soil; a sequence that adversely affects crop growth and yield.”
Bodeker underscored that observing World Soil Day presents an opportunity to recognize the value of our soils for soil productive capacity as well as its contribution to food security and the maintenance of key ecosystem services.
Agriculture Ministry’s Caretaker Abbas Keshavarz also addressed the event and said problems related to soil diminish agricultural output, lower incomes, increase production costs and make agriculture unsustainable.
Every five seconds, the equivalent of one soccer field of soil is eroded. This alarming fact reaffirms the need to raise awareness through World Soil Day of this growing problem, as the Earth's population continues to expand, the UN writes on its website.
This year, by addressing the increasing challenges of soil management, the FAO campaign "Stop soil erosion, Save our future" aims to raise awareness of the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human wellbeing.
By encouraging people around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health, the campaign also aims to raise the profile of healthy soil.
World Soil Day is held every year on Dec. 5.
Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil and one form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, animals and humans. In accordance with these agents, erosion is sometimes divided into water erosion, glacial erosion, snow erosion, wind (aeolean) erosion, zoogenic erosion and anthropogenic erosion.
Soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing a serious loss of topsoil. The loss of soil from farmland may be reflected in reduced crop production potential, lower surface water quality and damaged drainage networks.
Human activities have increased by 10–50 times the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. Excessive (or accelerated) erosion causes both "on-site" and "off-site" problems.
On-site impacts include decreases in agricultural productivity and (on natural landscapes) ecological collapse, both because of loss of the nutrient-rich upper soil layers. In some cases, the eventual end result is desertification.
Off-site effects include sedimentation of waterways and eutrophication of water bodies, as well as sediment-related damage to roads and houses. Water and wind erosion are the two primary causes of land degradation; combined, they are responsible for about 84% of the global extent of degraded land, making excessive erosion one of the most significant environmental problems worldwide.
Intensive agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are among the most significant human activities with regard to their effect on stimulating erosion. However, there are many prevention and remediation practices that can curtail or limit the erosion of vulnerable soils.
