World Soil Day 2025
World Soil Day, held annually on the 5th of December, is a global day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of healthy soil and advocating for sustainable soil management. Established by the UN General Assembly in 2013 and organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this day honours the birthday of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who championed sustainable soil management throughout his life.
This year’s theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities” focuses on the critical role of urban soils and the challenges posed by soil sealing and urbanisation. With two-thirds of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and resilient urban environments.
Approximately 95% of our food comes from soil, which supplies 15 of the 18 naturally occurring chemical elements essential to plants. A single handful of soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on Earth, making it one of nature’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Yet soil degradation threatens this vital resource, with erosion disrupting natural balance, reducing water infiltration, and depleting nutrients in our food.
At the Hub, our team of researchers and industry partners work to develop innovative fertiliser systems that optimise nutrient delivery while minimising environmental impacts such as nutrient leaching, soil acidification, and contamination that often lead to further soil degradation.
Recent Hub research, including work by McQuillan et al. (2025) on sustainable coatings for controlled release fertilisers and Islam et al. (2025) on native polymer degradation capacity of microorganisms in agricultural soils, advances our understanding of the complex interactions between fertilisers, soil, and soil microbial communities.
As we face the challenge of increasing agricultural production to feed our growing population, sustainable soil management practices paired with innovative fertiliser technologies are essential for maintaining healthy and productive soils for generations to come.
On this World Soil Day, we reaffirm our commitment to developing smart fertiliser solutions that protect and enhance soil health and support global food security.
Learn more about World Soil Day 2025 here: https://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en
Learn more about our smart fertiliser research at: https://smartfertiliserhub.org.au/
