HYDERABAD: Experts from national and international agricultural organizations have warned that climate change is accelerating the degradation of Pakistan’s soil health, posing serious threats to the country’s food security, agricultural productivity, and urban sustainability.
Speaking at a seminar held at Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam to mark World Soil Day 2025, specialists highlighted that the rapid loss of beneficial soil micro-organisms, shrinking green spaces, uncontrolled urbanization, and the absence of a national soil policy are pushing the country toward a dangerously non-productive future.
Organized by the Department of Soil Science in collaboration with the Soil Science Society of Pakistan, the seminar, titled “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities,” began with a cake-cutting ceremony and an awareness walk, culminating at the AM Sheikh Auditorium on Monday.
Presiding over the session, Vice Chancellor Engr Prof Dr Altaf Ali Siyal said Pakistan’s cities were steadily turning fertile land into concrete, resulting in rising urban temperatures and the formation of heat islands, where temperatures are 3–4°C higher than surrounding areas. He warned that plastic pollution, loss of vegetation cover, and poor soil management practices were further undermining soil health at a time when climate change was “knocking at our future.”
Dr Altaf Siyal stressed that without immediate climate adaptation measures and soil restoration programmes, Pakistan could face severe food security challenges. He underscored the need to revive soil organic matter, promote composting, adopt crop rotation, implement smart irrigation, and expand urban and rural tree plantation initiatives.
Agriculture Research Sindh Director General Dr Mazharuddin Keerio highlighted that extreme heat; erratic rainfall, prolonged floodwater stagnation, and widespread tree loss have damaged soil structure and reduced the activity of crucial beneficial soil micro -organisms responsible for nutrient cycling. Declining organic matter, he noted, is threatening the survival of these organisms, while his department continues research on soil fertility, bio-fertilizers, and vermin-composting to rehabilitate degraded soils.
FAO Provincial Coordinator Dr Ashfaq Ahmed Nahiyoon said the global community now recognizes the critical role of healthy soil and water in agro Food transformation. FAO is working with stakeholders across South Asia to restore soils, which are among the region’s most pressing environmental and developmental challenges.
Soil Science Society of Pakistan Chairman Dr Azeem Khalid, in a video message, described soil health as a national priority issue, linking it not only to agriculture but also to safe drinking water, climate resilience, nutrition, and urban heat stress. He emphasized that greening cities is essential to mitigate soil and environmental decline.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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