FAO’s SOFA Report 2025: India among Countries with Highest Yield Loss

Current Context: The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2025 was released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

• Date of Release: 3 November 2025, in Rome, Italy.
• Theme: Addressing Land Degradation Across Landholding Scales.
• It highlights human-induced land degradation (HILD) as a major cause of crop yield loss worldwide.
• India is among the countries with the highest yield losses, especially in Eastern and Southern Asia.
• Globally, 1.7 billion people live in degraded regions with at least 10% lower yields.
• Around 3.6 million hectares (ha) of cropland are abandoned annually, threatening food security and ecosystem resilience.

Question:

Q.1 According to The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2025, which factor is identified as a major cause of crop yield loss worldwide?
a) Floods
b) Human-Induced Land Degradation (HILD)
c) Locust Attacks
d) Soil Salinity

Answer: b) State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2025 highlights Human-Induced Land Degradation (HILD) as the leading contributor to declining agricultural output globally.