Saleem Shaikh
Soil rarely attracts attention in Pakistan, yet it underpins food security, climate resilience and urban liveability.
Beneath farms, forests and cities lies a living system rich in organic matter, microbes and nutrients, now degrading rapidly. The impacts are already visible in declining crop yields, worsening floods and heatwaves, polluted water bodies and deepening rural poverty. Without an urgent, sustainable and evidence-based national soil policy, Pakistan will continue to bear severe economic, social and environmental costs.
The warning signs are unmistakable. At a recent seminar at Sindh Agriculture University (SAU), Tandojam, scientists and policymakers highlighted how climate change is accelerating soil degradation nationwide. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, prolonged flooding, salinity, plastic pollution and unplanned urbanisation are eroding soil health. Particularly alarming is the loss of soil microorganisms—the invisible workforce that enables nutrient cycling, carbon storage and water regulation. Without them, soil becomes little more than inert dust.
Pakistan’s vulnerability is well documented. UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) assessments show that over 60 percent of the country’s land is affected by erosion, salinity or nutrient depletion. Nearly one-third of irrigated land, especially in Sindh and southern Punjab, suffers from salinity and waterlogging. Each year, millions of tonnes of fertile topsoil are lost to wind and water erosion, directly undermining wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane yields. These losses translate into falling farm incomes, higher food prices and rising rural poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition.
Climate change is intensifying these pressures. Rising temperatures accelerate the breakdown of organic matter, while unpredictable rainfall and prolonged floodwater stagnation—as witnessed during the floods of 2022, 2023 and 2025—damage soil structure and suffocate crops.
Research published in leading journals, including Nature Climate Change, shows that degraded soils retain less water and carbon, making them more vulnerable to droughts and floods. This creates a vicious cycle in which degraded soils worsen climate impacts, which in turn further degrade soils. Rapid urbanisation is compounding the crisis. As noted by SAU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Altaf Ali Siyal, fertile land around cities is being rapidly converted into concrete. FAO urban studies rank Pakistan among South Asia’s fastest-urbanising countries, often without effective land-use planning. Sealed soils disrupt natural drainage, increase flood risks and intensify urban heat islands. Plastic waste, construction debris and untreated wastewater further contaminate urban soils.
Despite these realities, Pakistan lacks a comprehensive national soil policy. Existing agricultural and environmental frameworks mention soil only in passing, resulting in fragmented interventions, weak regulation of land conversion, excessive reliance on chemical fertilisers and limited investment in soil monitoring or restoration.
A credible national soil policy must be climate-smart and evidence-based. It should establish a national soil information system to monitor organic carbon, salinity, nutrients and biological health. Restoring soil organic matter should be central, supported through composting, green manuring, crop residue retention and diversified cropping. Water and soil must be managed together through efficient irrigation and drainage, while urban planning should protect soils by preserving green spaces and limiting land sealing.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
