The 2023 Global Forum on Soil Health was held in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, on Sept. 19. Tang Renjian, Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks. 

Minister Tang said soil is the foundation of life and the source of food. Safeguarding soil health is of great significance for food security, sustainable agricultural development and ecological conservation. The Chinese government has been committed to soil health and earnestly implemented President Xi Jinping’s key instructions. Adhering to “integrating conservation and utilization”, China has established the most stringent conservation system for farmland and set up a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system, which has yielded significant improvements in China’s farmland quality. 

Minister Tang pointed out that soil health is a global issue that transcends national and regional boundaries. China is ready to work with all parties to strengthen cooperation in soil health, establish cooperation platforms, carry out joint R&D, enhance exchanges and mutual visits, and contributed to safeguarding global food security, addressing climate change, and implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Agriculture ministers from countries including Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, and Australia, the President of the International Union of Soil Sciences and the Chief Scientist of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, commended the success of the forum in their remarks. They also expressed their expectations that the forum would improve global soil health by helping countries boost communication and cooperation in policy-making, basic research and technology promotion, and by helping them share experience and best practices. 

Ma Youxiang, Vice Minister of MARA, presided over the opening ceremony. Zhao Yide, Secretary of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee, Zhao Gang, Governor of Shaanxi Province, and Wei Baigang, Chief Economist and Director-General of the General Office of MARA, attended the event. Representatives of relevant government departments, agriculture ministers and envoys of several countries, representatives of relevant international organizations, and well-known domestic and foreign experts in soil science attended the forum. 

The forum, under the theme of “Soil Health and Food Security”, was co-organized by MARA, the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Government, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It featured high-level dialogues, parallel sessions, and field trips, with a focus on major soil types such as chernozem, saline and alkaline soils, red soil, paddy soil and loess. The 2023 Yangling Initiative for Global Soil Health was also released during the forum.