Black soil in red: Climate change threatens world’s food basket

Subject : Geography

Why in news-

Black soils, which feed the global population, are under threat, with most losing at least half of their soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, according to a new United Nations report.

Black soils-

These soils are characterised by a thick, dark-coloured soil horizon rich in organic matter. They are amongst the most productive and fertile soils in the world.
Black soils have the potential to provide 10 per cent of the total SOC sequestration globally if they receive proper attention.
Europe and Eurasia have the highest potential at over 65 per cent and Latin America and the Caribbean at around 10 per cent.
Black soils were home to 2.86 per cent of the global population and had 17.36 per cent of cropland, 8.05 per cent of global SOC stock and 30.06 per cent of SOC stock of global cropland.
Globally in 2010, 66 per cent of sunflower seeds, 51 per cent of small millet, 42 per cent of sugar beet, 30 per cent of wheat and 26 per cent of potatoes were harvested from black soils.
93 per cent of the Moldovan population and 52 per cent of the Ukrainian population live on black soil.
Two-thirds of the black soil area is currently used for agricultural production.

Distribution of black soils-

The Russian Federation has the largest area by far, followed by Kazakhstan and China.
Europe and Eurasia accounted for 70 per cent of the soil in the total cropland, while North America, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia had 10 per cent each.

Global status of black soils report-

Published by FAO on World soil day (5 December).
Threats include- Land-use change, unsustainable management practices and excessive use of agrochemicals, moderate to severe erosion processes, nutrient imbalances, acidification and biodiversity loss.
The ability of the soils to remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up in soil organic matter (called carbon sequestration) has been proposed as an important solution to mitigate human-induced climate change.

What are the consequences-

They have lost 20 to 50 per cent of their original Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stock, with the carbon being released into the atmosphere mostly as carbon dioxide, exacerbating global warming.