The 9th international congress of ESSC was held at the
Agricultural University of Tirana (Albania) from 26 to 28 September 2019. The
objective is to present up to date research results, practical examples, and
policies, to support the role played by soil resources on human existence and
as a source of food and life supporting services. It is hosted by the European
Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC), organized by the Agricultural University
of Tirana, and jointly hosted by International Union of Soil Sciences, World
Association of Soil and Water Conservation.
The theme of this
congress is “Soil's Contribution to People: from Food to Life Supporting
Services”. More than 70 representatives from 14 countries and regions attended
the meeting. Experts from Spain, Russia, Belgium, Albania and other countries were
invited as speaker, discussing and exchanging cutting edge research topic in
soil conservation area. There were 4 invited lectures, 28 oral presentations
and 48 posters at the meeting.
Secretary-general Prof. Duihu Ning of WASWAC was invited to attend
the meeting and made an oral presentation entitled with “Evaluating indices
system for ecological benefits of soil and water conservation”. He introduced the objectives and
methods to build the evaluating indices system, which includes five
perspectives: water, soil, meteorology, biology and carbon sequestration.
Prof. Ning also communicated with
other council members of WASWAC, including Prof. Carmelo Dazzi from Italy
(President of the European Society of Soil Conservation), Prof. José Luis Rubio
(Vice president of WASWAC), Prof. Ildefonso Pla Sentis from Spain, and Prof. Mike
Fullen from the U.K. They exchanged ideas about the arrangements of the upcoming
WASWAC World Conference IV in India, nomination of some awards of WASWAC,
nomination for new council member and recent work of the WAWAC secretary.
The last day the representatives visited the Center
for Agro-Technology Transfer, QTTB, which belongs to the Ministry of
agriculture and rural development of Albania, which focuses on helping Albanian
farmers implement sustainable technology extension in crop, water, soil and
livestock management. The center is also responsible for the national soil
survey of Albania and carries out regular soil sampling and testing on a scale
of 1:10,000. By the end of 2018, the center had surveyed about 300,000 hectares
of land and completed the analysis of the chemical and physical properties of
all soil samples. During the field visit, the representatives conducted
in-depth on-site discussions on the formation of local soil and land use mode,
focusing on the development process of typical soil profile, centering on the
theme of soil sustainable use and soil conservation.
