Soil world experts analysis share project experiences focusing on innovation and technology for a sustainable future

The Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Mario Lubetkin, together with the Minister of Agriculture of Chile, Esteban Valenzuela, inaugurated the workshop "Pathways to Accuracy in Soil Analysis: Progress of Soil Laboratories in Latin America and the Caribbean".  

This event, which takes place from April 8 to 11, brings together world experts who are part of the Latin American Soil Laboratory Network (LATSOLAN), which has 230 institutions from 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative emerged in 2018 as part of the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN), with a central focus on innovation and technology to promote a sustainable future.  

"Soils are the foundation for sustainable and resilient agriculture, essential ecosystem functions, productive landscapes, and food security. They are key to sustaining life on Earth. Healthy soils, high in organic matter, biodiversity, nutrients, and moisture, are fundamental for a sustainable future," stressed Mario Lubetkin.  

For his part, Chile's Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, said that soil degradation is synonymous with loss of equilibrium due to physical, chemical, or biological processes, the consequence of which is the loss of biodiversity and competitiveness. "Our ministry defined a Sovereignty Strategy for Food Security, whose main basis is protecting, promoting, and developing our heritage, and soil, like water, is part of it. That is why this event is so important for us; because soil, its conservation, protection, and promotion are in the DNA of our government's management".   

One of the highlights of the initial agenda was the presentation of key projects on sustainable soil management led by FAO, such as the world map of soil nutrients, the protocol for the evaluation of sustainable soil management, the Soil Doctors program, and the SOILFER and SOILCARE projects. In the region, countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela are already part of the world map with concrete data, while nine other countries are in the process of joining.  

The SOILFER project, recently launched in Guatemala and Honduras, seeks to map soils for resilient agrifood systems in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa. In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Guatemala and with funding from the U.S. Department of State, this project's main objective is to recover the richness and productivity of soils in the context of the fertilizer crisis and climate change.  

FAO and the Sustainable Land Management Partnership Initiative, with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), are working to establish an enabling environment for sustainable management and restoration of degraded lands to improve food security in countries such as Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and St. Lucia through the SOILCARE project in the Caribbean.  

The director of FAO's Land and Water Division, Lifeng Li; the National Director of the Agriculture and Livestock Service, José Guajardo; the Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción, Guillermo Wells; Miriam Ostinelli of the GLOSOLAN Steering Committee; and Sol Ortiz García, President of the Soil Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as other leading international soil experts, attended the opening meeting.  

The Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción will host a delegation from the LATSOLAN Network to review and update the main knowledge of generating accurate and quality data in soil laboratories in the region and globally.