The soil condition is rapidly deteriorating because of soil erosion, loss of soil organic matters and nutrient depletion which is serious threats to food security. The food demand will be doubled by 2050 amid the situation when agricultural land and per capita water arability are decreasing drastically.

The soil condition is rapidly deteriorating because of soil erosion, loss of soil organic matters and nutrient depletion which is serious threats to food security. The food demand will be doubled by 2050 amid the situation when agricultural land and per capita water arability are decreasing drastically. This was stated by University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while chairing the inaugural session of International Seminar on Soil and Water Resources arranged by Faculty of Agricultural Engendering, University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security. Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that we are polluting our soil with our own hands. He said that decreasing soil fertility was posing a question mark on meeting the demand of food for coming generation. He said that country needed a serious intervention to combat environmental, soil and water degradation with proper remediation. He said that Pakistan can face the 30 percent of water shortage by 2025 due to climate changes as the country was listed water scarce state. NESPAK Vice President Dr Tariq Latif said water scarcity was worsening with each passing year and it is time to find out solutions to the issue. He stressed upon the need of joint efforts in order to address the issue on the part of experts, policy makers, scientists and all policy makers. He said that NESPAK made its debut in Water Resources Development Sector with the design and construction supervision of the Left Bank Irrigation Tunnel of Tarbela Dam Project in 1973 and since then, it has provided services for more than 400 water resources projects within the country and overseas. Dean Prof Dr Allah Baksh said water resources were shrinking and population was growing rapidly. He called for kicking off a comprehensive awareness drive to educate people about rational use of water consumption and modern agricultural technology. He said the establishment of water reservoirs big as well as small was the need of the hour as we are dumping lot of water back to the sea.Dalhousie University Canada Assistant Professor Dr Haibo Niu stressed upon the need to develop the nutrient management strategies. He called for promoting bio-char in order to fight the challenge of soil degradation. He said Biochar was a tool to raise the soil fertility by overcoming depleted soils, scarce organic resources, and inadequate water and chemical fertilizer supplies. He said that sand filtration can be used for wastewater treatment. Dr Aitzaz Ahsan from University of Prince Edward Island Canada said that the management of soil variability will ensure the sustainable agriculture production. He stressed upon the need to save the soil and water as the situation was deteriorating. Prof Dr Muhammad Ashfaq called for developing a comprehensive system of water pricing. He said that we are pumping out groundwater with a large pace, resulting in lower down the water level as well as deteriorating water quality . Dr Jehanzeb Cheema stressed upon the need to promote the new techniques like drip irrigation and GIS modeling. Dr Hamid Shah said that the per capita water availability was 5100 which has now shrunk to less than 1000 cubic meter which was an area of concern.