The World Soil Day 2025 celebration was organized at ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on December 5, 2025 with the theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities,”. The Chief Guest for the occasion was Dr. A. K. Nayak, DDG (NRM), ICAR, New Delhi, and the Guest of Honour was Dr. A. Velmurugan, ADG (Soil and Water Management). Due to other commitments, the HDDG could not attend the event in person; however, the ADG Dr. A. Velmurugan participated virtually. Dr. B. S. Das, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, delivered a special lecture on the theme of World Soil Day, also in virtual mode.The meeting started with ICAR song. Nearly 150 persons including scientists and staff of IIWM and students from three different schools i.e. Saraswati Shisu Mandir and Vivekanand Shiksa Sansthan, Bhubaneswar along with their teachers attended this program.In this program 22progressive farmers including 5 female farmers from different parts of Odisha participated as special invitee. The programme began with the invocation of the ICAR song, followed by the symbolic watering of a plant to mark the inauguration of World Soil Day. At the outset, the Director and other dignitaries were formally welcomed by Dr. K. K. Bandyopadhyay, Program Leader and Chairman of the organizing committee, IIWM. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Bandyopadhyay on the significance of World Soil Day.Dr. A. Sarangi, Director, ICAR-IIWM welcomed the participants and highlighted the significant achievements of the Institute on agricultural water management. Dr. B.S. Das, Professor, Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering, IIT, Kharagpur delivered a talk on the world soil day theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”. In his address, Dr. Das highlighted that nearly 60% of global soils are either degraded or being used unsustainably. Dr. Das explained that urban soils play a critical role by supporting food production, filtering water, storing carbon, regulating temperature, and sustaining biodiversity. He noted that the theme of World Soil Day calls for transformative actions to reimagine urban landscapes through their soils, ensuring that both people and nature can thrive together, ultimately contributing to the development of healthy, green cities. He also pointed out that the expansion of built-up areas leads to biodiversity loss, reduced agricultural production, increased pollution, and restrictions on natural energy and material flows within ecosystems. In conclusion, he advocated the use of DRS–DSM–HRS approaches for sustainable urban landscape planning and management. Dr. A. Velmurugan, ADG (Soil and Water Management), ICAR gave his remarks on deep interdependence between soil and water management and urged that they should be managed in holistic manner. He emphasized the role of soil health in the One health concept. He also told that in the FAO summit of soil scientists, Soil drought has been highlighted as a major problem. A farmers-scientists interaction meeting was held under the chairmanship of Dr. S.K. Mishra, Programme Leader, On-farm Technology Dissemination, ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar.Then speech and painting competition was held among the students on the World Soil Day theme.These activities were followed by a visit to the advanced soil and plant science laboratories at IIWM, where students had the opportunity to explore cutting-edge research and technologies. The farmers visited the Institute’s Technology Park, where they were introduced to innovative technologies aimed at improving farming practices. The progressive farmers were felicitated and the students who won prizes in different competitions were rewarded on this occasion. The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the chief guest and all the participants followed by recitation of National Anthem.
