05 Dec 2023 World Soil Day is celebrated annually on 5th of December and is a global initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to promote soil health and its sustainable management. The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha observes the day officially every year in the state with various events. Each year the World Soil Day has a dedicated theme selected by the FAO and the theme for 2023 is "Soil and water: a source of life”. The Green Landscape Implementation Unit (GLIU) in coordination with State Project Management Unit (SPMU) of the Green-Ag Project, Similipal Landscape, celebrated the World Soil Day from December 5th to 7th 2023 through the green eco club activity. The three-day celebrations engaged 700 school children from 12 high schools located in the project’s high-priority villages under six blocks of Mayurbhanj District, Odisha. The children participated in activities organized by the GLIU, namely, morning walk (prabhatpheri) with placards and banners on soil and water conservation, tree plantation, and debate competition on the theme of the day. In addition, to generate awareness and enthusiasm among children, and following the seeing is believing concept, 164 progressive farmers who use natural bio-fertilizers and practice organic farming in the landscape shared their experiences on the benefits of their farming system on soil, water, their health and better crop. Subject experts from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, Odisha shared knowledge and solutions for soil degradation, water retention, and integrated management. Through these efforts, the team believes that the students will be encouraged to adopt environment friendly practices and will become more aware of the importance of soil and water for farming and their landscape in large, which aligns with the Green-Ag project’s objectives and activities. As a take home message, the students were distributed with flyers on World Soil Day which showcased the importance of soil and its preservation.