Highlights archive
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is actively working towards fostering sustainable soil management. As part of this initiative, they have initiated the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors Programme (GSDP) through a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded project on integrated management for the sustainable development of the Venezuelan Andes. The implementation of the project is currently underway with the support of key stakeholders. These include the National Institute for Rural Development (MPPAT-INDER) (which acts as the national promoter of the GSDP), the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, the Ministry of Ecosocialism (MINEC), the Latin American Forestry Institute (IFLA), the Rómulo Gallegos National Experimental University of the Central Plains (UNERG), the Foundation for the Technical Unification of Research, Training and Extension (UTICEX), the FAO country office in Venezuela and FAO’s Global Soil Partnership (GSP).
Since its establishment in 1924 the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), the global union of soil scientists and soil science societies, promotes soil scientist activities all around the world, stimulate scientific research, and reinforces the global soil science community.
With a mere seven percent of Tajikistan's land suitable for agriculture, soil erosion and degradation pose significant threats to sustainable farming. To tackle these threats, Tajikistan recently embarked on the Global Soil Doctors Programme, an innovative initiative designed to improve sustainable soil management. The programme implements farmer-to-farmer training, supporting and strengthening the capacities of farmers who are prominent in their community for their good knowledge of soil management while supporting national governments in addressing the needs of their rural communities. Developed in a collaborative effort with key stakeholders in Tajikistan, the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (national promoter for the Global Soil Doctors' Programme), the State Institution of Agricultural Entrepreneurship Development Project Management Unit (SI AED PMU), FAO Tajikistan, and FAO's Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the programme demonstrated a genuine commitment to increasing crop yields, productivity, livelihoods and safeguarding the environment.
The Global Soil Partnership bids farewell with affection and great appreciation to two eminent soil scientists who greatly contributed to the work of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils and the Global Soil Partnership and have left us this year: Prof. Jaume Porta Casanellas, Emeritus Professor of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry at the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Lleida, and Dr. Juan Antonio Comerma Gutiérrez, member of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils during 2015-2017 and senior researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agronómicas in Maracay (Venezuela) for more than 30 years.