Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil Security: A Key Role for Sustainable Food Productivity

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Sustainable Agriculture towards Food Security

Abstract

Soil health, soil quality, and soil security, all the three mainly focused on the status of the soil fertility that is essential for all living things in the terrestrial environment. Due to several anthropogenic and natural sources, soil degradation is one of the major constraints for agricultural productivity. Around 40% of the arable land is already degraded for various factors including urbanization and soil sealing, soil acidification, salinization, soil erosion, soil contamination, etc. Despite there is a link between soil quality and food productivity, the status of global food production has been updated regularly rather than the status of world soil resources. Both the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasized to ensure the food security globally as we need to serve more than 9 billion people by 2050. Further, the soil acts as a carbon sink efficiently rather than aquatic ecosystems in many parts of the world, which will help to mitigate the climate change. Hence, the soil protection is of the utmost importance for all the securities especially water, food, and energy. Sustainable soil management and agricultural practices such as efficient water utilization, climate-smart agriculture, AeroFarms, and organic farming are the key aspects to ensure the food security globally.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • 29th Report: Impact of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on agriculture and allied sectors in the country, standing committee on agriculture, August 11, 2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Alaghmand S, Beecham S, Woods JA et al (2016) Quantifying the impacts of artificial flooding as a salt interception measure on a river-floodplain interaction in a semi-arid saline floodplain. Environ Model Softw 79:167–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexandratos N (1999) World food and agriculture: outlook for the medium and longer term. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96:5908–5914

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Alexandratos N, Bruinsma J (2012) World agriculture: towards 2030/2050: the 2012 revision. FAO, Rome. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap106e/ap106e.pdf. Accessed 10 Oct 2015

  • Badgley C, Perfecto I (2007) Can organic agriculture feed the world? Ren Agric Food Syst 22:80–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badgley C, Moghtader J, Quintero E et al (2007) Organic agriculture and the global food supply. Ren Agric Food Syst 22:86–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco H, Lal R (2010) Soil erosion and food security. Principles of soil conservation and management. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 493–512

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bolan N, Hedley M, White R (1991) Processes of soil acidification during nitrogen cycling with emphasis on legume based pastures. Plant Soil 134:53–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brevik EC, Burgess LC (2013) Soils and human health. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown ME, Funk CC (2008) Food security under climate change. Science 319:580–581

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brussaard L, de Ruiter PC, Brown GG (2007) Soil biodiversity for agricultural sustainability. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:233–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai Z, Wang B, Xu M et al (2014) Nitrification and acidification from urea application in red soil (Ferralic Cambisol) after different long-term fertilization treatments. J Soils Sediment 14:1526–1536

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen J (2007) Rapid urbanization in China: a real challenge to soil protection and food security. Catena 69(1):1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway G (2012) One billion hungry: can we feed the world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards CA (2002) Assessing the effects of environmental pollutants on soil organisms, communities, processes and ecosystems. Eur J Soil Biol 38:225–231

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Hage Scialabba N (2007) Organic agriculture and food security. International conference on agriculture and food security. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (2012) Commission staff working document. Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing, Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  • European Environment Agency (EEA) (2014) Progress in Management of Contaminated Sites, European Environment Agency

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2002) Organic Agriculture, Environment and Food Security. Environment and Natural Resources Service Sustainable Development Department

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2008) The state of food insecurity in the developing world. FAO, Rome. http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0876e/i0876e00.HTM. Accessed 20 Jan 2010

  • FAO (2011) The state of the World’s land and water resources for food and agriculture (SOLAW) – managing systems at risk; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy; Earthscan: London, UK, 2011. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2015

  • FAO (2013) State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2013 – food systems for better nutrition. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2015) The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015: meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress. FAO, Rome, 8, 44. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e.pdf

  • Fenn ME, Huntington T, McLaughlin S, Eagar C, Gomez A, Cook R (2006) Status of soil acidification in North America. J For Sci 52:3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Filip Z (2002) International approach to assessing soil quality by ecologically-related biological parameters. Agric Ecosyst Environ 88:169–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flowers TJ, Flowers SA (2005) Why does salinity pose such a difficult problem for plant breeders? Agric Water Manag 78:15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley JA, Ramankutty N, Brauman KA et al (2011) Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature 478:337–342

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fourth Advance Estimates of Production of Food grains for 2015–16, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, August 17, 2015 

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardi C, Panagos P, Van Liedekerke M et al (2015) Land take and food security: assessment of land take on the agricultural production in Europe. J Environ Plan Manag 58(5):898–912

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs HK, Ruesch AS, Achard F et al (2010) Tropical forests were the primary sources of new agricultural land in the 1980s and 1990s. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107(38):16732–16737

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Global Nutrition Report (2016) IFPRI, Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Opportunity Report (2017) First edition, DNV GL AS, Hovik, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Godfray C, Beddington J, Crute I et al (2010) Food security: the challenge of feeding nine billion people. Science 27:812–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulding K (2016) Soil acidification and the importance of liming agricultural soils with particular reference to the United Kingdom. Soil Use Manag 32:390–399

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • GSP (2014) World soil day. 5 December. http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/world-soil-da/it/. Accessed 16 Dec 2014

  • Halberg N, Alroe HF, Knudsen MT et al (2006) Global development of organic agriculture: challenges and prospects. CABI Publishing

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazell P, Wood S (2008) Drivers of change in global agriculture. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 363:495–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugh B, Ravenscroft P (2009) Arsenic in groundwater: a threat to sustainable agriculture in South and South-east Asia. Environ Int 35(3):647–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunger Report (2017) Fragile Environments, Resilent Communities. Bread for the World Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch A, McBratney AB, Adams M et al (2013) Soil security: solving the global soil crisis. Glob Policy J 4:434–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavelle P, Decaens T, Auberts M et al (2006) Soil invertebrates and ecosystem services. Eur J Soil Biol 42:S3–S15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Feng X, Qiu G, Shang L et al (2009) Atmospheric mercury emission from artisanal mercury mining in Guizhou Province, Southwestern China. Atmos Environ 43:2247–2251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li S, Li H, Yang C et al (2016) Rates of soil acidification in tea plantations and possible causes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 233:60–66

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu X, Mao Q, Gilliam FS et al (2014) Nitrogen deposition contributes to soil acidification in tropical ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol 20:3790–3801

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y, Wu L, Liu L et al (2009) Heavy metal contamination and remediation in Asian agricultural land. MARCO symposium 2009: challenges for agro-environmental research in monsoon Asia

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins AP, de Andrade Costa SEV et al (2014) Soil acidification and basic cation use efficiency in an integrated no-till crop–livestock system under different grazing intensities. Agric Ecosyst Environ 195:18–28

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matuschke I (2009) Rapid urbanization and food security: using food density maps to identify future food security hotspots

    Google Scholar 

  • McBratney A, Field DJ, Koch A (2014) The dimensions of soil security. Geoderma 213:203–213

    Google Scholar 

  • McMichael AJ (2000) The urban environment and health in a world of increasing globalization: issues for developing countries. Bull World Health Organ 78(9):1117–1126

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Montanarella L, Vargas R (2012) Global governance of soil resources as a necessary condition for sustainable development. CurrOpin Environ Sustain 4:559–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR (2007) Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:13268–13272

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ng H (2010) Regional assessment: soil contamination policy and practice in Asia. Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN)

    Google Scholar 

  • Niggli U, Earley J Ogorzalek K (2007) Organic agriculture and environmental stability of the food supply. International conference on Agriculture and Food Security. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Niggli U, Slabe A, Schmid O et al (2008) Vision for an organic food and farming research agenda to 2025 organic knowledge for the future. IFOAM

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinstrup-Andersen P (2009) Food security: definition and measurement. Food Sec 1(1):5–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J, Hine R (2001) Reducing food poverty with sustainable agriculture: a summary of new evidence. Final report from the ‘SAFE World’ research project, University of Essex. http://www.essex.ac.uk/ces/esu/occasionalpapers/SAFE%20FINAL%20-%20Pages1-22.pdf. Accessed 12 Feb 2010

  • Qadir M, Ghafoor A, Murtaza G (2000) Amelioration strategies for saline soils: a review. Land Degrad Dev 11:501–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qadir M, Noble AD, Schubert S et al (2006) Sodicity-induced land degradation and its sustainable management: problems and prospects. Land Degrad Dev 17(6):661–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qadir M, Tubeileh A, Akhtar J et al (2008) Productivity enhancement of salt affected environments through crop diversification. Land Degrad Dev 19:429–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray DK, Ramankutty N, Mueller ND et al (2012) Recent patterns of crop yield growth and stagnation. Nat Commun:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengasamy P (2006) World salinization with emphasis on Australia. J Exp Bot 57:1017–1023

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas RV, Achouri M, Maroulis J et al (2016) Healthy soils: a prerequisite for sustainable food security. Environ Earth Sci 75:180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sastre-Conde I, Carmen Lobo M, Icela Beltrán-Hernández R et al (2015) Remediation of saline soils by a two-step process: washing and amendment with sludge. Geoderma 247–248:140–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidhuber J, Tubiello FN (2007) Global food security under climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:19703–19708

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Second Advance Estimates of Production of Food Grains for 2016–17, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, February 15, 2017. http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2nd_Advance_Estimate_ENG.pdf

  • Singh RB (2009) Towards a food secure India and South Asia. Making hunger a history. http://www.apaari.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/towards-a-food-secure-india-makinghunger-history.pdf

  • Smedley PL (2003) Arsenic in groundwater – south and east Asia. In: Welch AH, Stollenwerk KG (eds) Arsenic in ground water. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, pp 179–209

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • St Clair SB, Lynch JP (2010) The opening of pandora’s box: climate change impacts on soil fertility and crop nutrition in developing countries. Plant Soil 335:101–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stockmann U, Adams M, Crawford JW et al (2013) The knowns, known unknowns and unknowns of sequestration of soil organic carbon. Agric Ecosyst Environ 164:80–99

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan TJ, Lawrence GB, Bailey SW, McDonnell TC, Beier CM, Weathers K, McPherson G, Bishop DA (2013) Effects of acidic deposition and soil acidification on sugar maple trees in the Adirondack Mountains, New York. Environ Sci Technol 47:12687–12694

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • The World of Organic Agriculture (2017) Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D, Fargione J, Wolff B et al (2001) Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science 292:281–284

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D, Cassman KG, Matson PA et al (2002) Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature 418:671–677

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei CY, Chen TB (2001) Hyperaccumulators and phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil: a review of studies in China and abroad. Acta Ecol Sinica 21:1196–1203

    Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum (2012) What if the world’s soil runs out? WEF in collaboration with TIME talked to University of Sydney Professor John Crawford on December 14, 2012

    Google Scholar 

  • World Food Program (2009) Emergency food security assessment handbook, 2nd edn. World Food Programme, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (2012) Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health: food security. (http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en. Accessed 25 Oct 2012

Download references

Acknowledgments

P.T. is highly thankful to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), New Delhi, for the financial support of the project (File No. 19-150/2014-RE).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, School of Life Sciences, Periyar University, Periyar Palkalai Nagar, Salem, 636011, Tamil Nadu, India

    Palaniswamy Thangavel

  2. Department of Plant Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 625021, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ganapathi Sridevi

Authors
  1. Palaniswamy Thangavel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ganapathi Sridevi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Palaniswamy Thangavel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India

    Arulbalachandran Dhanarajan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Thangavel, P., Sridevi, G. (2017). Soil Security: A Key Role for Sustainable Food Productivity. In: Dhanarajan, A. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture towards Food Security. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6647-4_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation