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Soil degradation neglected crisis in Iran

Rapid degradation of soil is costing Iran billions of dollars each year as well as threatening national security.
A picture taken on August 14, 2016 in a abandoned village near the southern Iranian city of Sirjan shows dead pistachio trees at a field that farmers left behind due to the lack of water.
The pistachio trees at the village in southern Iran are long dead, bleached white by the sun -- the underground water reserves sucked dry by decades of over-farming and waste. The last farmers left with their families 10 years ago, and the village has the look of an abandoned Martian colony. / AFP / ATTA KENARE / TO GO WIT

Soil and water are natural resources pivotal to the survival of any country. They constitute the key elements of agriculture, which no one doubts is important. Experts say that soil is even more important than water because the latter is recoverable but the first is not. They argue that it is crucial to preserve soil, as the formation of each centimeter of soil takes hundreds of years to produce.

Back in 2013, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization named 2015 the International Year of Soils to “raise awareness on the importance of sustainable soil management.” In this vein, the years 2015-2024 were named the International Decade of Soils. But this is at the international level; all governments must take their own measures for soil conservation. Following suit, Iran has also adopted policies and taken measures in recent years to preserve its soil resources, which are not in proper condition.

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