Hyderabad, Dec. 5 -- Marking UN World Soil Day 2025 on Friday, Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), underscored the indispensable role of healthy soils not only in rural food systems but also in sustaining resilient, livable cities.
In an opinion piece themed "Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities," Pathak wrote that the condition of dryland soils determines the quality of water, food and green spaces that urban populations rely on.
"Even the most urban communities depend on the soils that sustain smallholder farms and broader food systems," he said, noting that dryland soils across Asia and Africa face mounting pressure from erratic rainfall, nutrient imbalance...