Gazipur Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Professor GKM Mustafizur Rahman said at an event on Saturday that soil is not just a resource but a timeless sanctuary for our existence.
He made this remark at the GAU in Gazipur on the occasion of World Soil Day 2025, a press release said.
He highlighted this year's theme “Healthy Soil for Healthy Cities,” describing urban soil as a quiet life force that sustains city life. “Yet a city that is rapidly deteriorating under the pressure of unplanned urbanization.”
Citing science, he noted, “Excessive concrete seals soil, blocks air and water movement, and ultimately destroys beneficial soil microbes, fungi and insects that are essential to natural soil fertility.”
Industrial-related heavy metal pollution such as lead, cadmium and arsenic disrupts the nutrient cycle and inhibits root growth, according to the VC.
Poor waste management and excessive use of chemicals further increase soil acidity, reduce water holding capacity and make soil hard and lifeless.
He offered solutions, emphasizing permeable sidewalks and green roofs to restore moisture and microbial life, community composting to enrich organic matter, and urban tree plantings to improve biodiversity and soil stability.
He also emphasized the value of phytoremediation, which involves using selected plants to gradually remove pollutants.
Professor Rahman called for considering soil not just as farmland but as a living ecosystem at the root of urban sustainability.
Noting that Gazipur Agricultural University continues to play a leading role in research, innovation and policy support to restore urban soil health, he urged: “Let us treat soil not just as a resource but as a responsibility.”