Soil Erosion Roils Food Security

The growing menace of soil erosion is more serious than water pollution, as soil plays a crucial life-support role that is often taken for granted, the chairman of the Technical Committee for Flood Evaluation and Dam Safety at the Iranian National Committee on Large Dams said.
“There are alternatives for water shortage or pollution, but the physical, chemical and biological decline in soil quality is an irreversible damage that is likely to jeopardize food security,” ILNA also quoted Mostafa Fadaeifard as saying.
Contaminated water can be purified in wastewater treatment plants, but as soon as soil quality declines and it diminishes the capacity to support animals and plants, nothing can be done, he added.
Despite the widespread use of fertilizers, the country's fertile soil is poor in terms of nutrients and its salinity is also on the rise.