Dr. Lal celebrated World Soil Day with a series of presentations around the world! The theme of this year's World Soil Day was "Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage." Dr. Lal flew to his native India to give his World Soil Day presentations in person at the conference on December 6th for "Regenerative Agriculture for Improving Soil Health, Enhancing Carbon Sequestration, and Building Climate Resilience," created by Solidaridad, Asia, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and the Indian Institute of Soil Science (IISS) in Bhopal. Here is what they had to say about it on the the ICAR webpage:
"World Soil Day is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources.
The theme for this year ... underscores the importance of accurate soil data and information in understanding soil characteristics and supporting informed decision making on sustainable soil management for food security.
ICAR Institutes pan India celebrated World Soil Day 2024."
In Bhopal, Dr. Lal presented four lectures at ICAR-IISS, including the Importance of Soil Management for Improving Agronomic Production; India Agriculture: A Global Success Story, Soil Health and Global Issues, and Managing Soil Health in India: Challenges & Opportunity. He was honored to be able to contribute to the celebrations at Bhopal on this important day, as reported by ICAR:
"ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal
ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science, a recipient of FAO King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award Celebrated World Soil Day today.
This occasion was graced by Padam Shri Awardee and World Food Prize Winner Dr. Rattan Lal (Distinguished Professor, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA) as the Chief Guest. Dr Lal spoke about the strategies on how to make soil, atmosphere and earth planet healthy.
Dr SP Datta, Director, ICAR-IISS, Bhopal, delivered a talk on importance of soil. He further stated that soil is the centre for all development of human and humanity. Dr Datta stated that soil is the origin of life. He highlighted the significance of soil in all spheres of life be it culture and civilization including religion, thoughts, livelihood and health."
You can more read about all of the other celebrations at all ICAR Institutes here and on Solidaridad, Asia's Facebook post here.
Additionally, Dr. Lal gave presentations globally online, including for the UNCCD celebtration, which was meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He spoke about World Soil Day Celebrations of the UNCCD and LiSAM as the Pathway to Nature-Positive Agriculture for IICA-Canada and the UNCCD Presentation for World Soil Day.
After visiting Bhopal, Dr. Lal presented The World Soil Day: Perserverance, Opportunities, and Challenges for India's World Soil Day at IFDC.
At the Lal Carbon Center, the center members were pleased that Dr. Lal joined us online so that we could discuss the history and inspiration that World Soil Day gives them as soil researchers and scientists.