Save Soil, Save Life??

“What we are facing now is soil extinction. In most countries, more than 50% of the topsoil is already gone. Every responsible scientist in the world is clearly saying that by 2045 we will be producing 40% less food and our population will be 9.2 billion. It is foolish to think that only the poor in the world will be affected. No, it will affect every human being on the planet because civilizations will collapse, and civil wars will unfold once there is a food shortage. This is not just about us because we are already using the soil of the unborn child.” ~ Sadhguru

By 2050, our population is estimated to be over 9.2 billion but food production will fall by 40%. Over 800 million people already suffer from hunger worldwide. It is a well-known fact that 95% of our food comes from the soil, but we have soil left only for less than 60 years. Now imagine a world where the capacity of soil to grow food has gone down significantly while our population is over 9.2 billion. That is the severity of the food crisis we are heading towards. It’s not?almost?the number?of food, but also?the standard?of food. There has been?an unlimited?difference?in the?nutritional value of the food that we eat now. Today, it takes 8 oranges?to urge?the identical?amount of?axerophthol?that our grandparents?are accustomed?to get from just 1 orange. Not only this, the protein content in Indian vegetables has dropped by 60%. We see?an identical?trend?within the?US?yet. The mineral content in US vegetables has dropped by 87%. And this phenomenon is spreading?everywhere?on the planet. Already almost 2 billion people suffer from nutrition deficiency worldwide.

You may only have heard of earthworms, but there are zillions of lives that thrive in soil. Just 1 teaspoon of soil has more organisms than our entire population.?it's?this biodiversity that supplies?such a large amount of?nutrients to plants that grow our food.?it's?this biodiversity from which many of our medicines are cultured.?it's?this biodiversity?that creates?soil alive. But the unfortunate reality is?that each?year?nearly?27,000?of those?species are going extinct – entire species!?the sole?thanks to?secure food?for everybody?is by reviving this life?within the?soil and our food?is?nutritious?only?if it's?grown in healthy soil.

When we hear about?temperature change, we usually hear about fossil fuels – how eliminating fossil fuels?is the?only?thanks to?minimize?warming. While we?may have?to cut back?our dependence on fossil fuels gradually,?there's?an entire?another side?to the current?story, which?is small?known, and?nobody?is talking about.?does one?know the soil?is the?largest carbon sink on the earth? Soil?that's?rich in organic content can absorb huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere?and might?cool our planet. Plants using sunlight and water naturally perform photosynthesis. They pull carbon in from the air?and switch?them into carbohydrates – sugars. Then they pump?a number of?these sugars down through the roots to feed microorganisms who use that carbon?to create?healthy soil. Simply, plants pump the carbon from the atmosphere, and soil stores it – carbon moved! But when soil degrades, soil carbon and?inhalation of general anesthetic?are released into the atmosphere, making land degradation?one of the foremost?significant contributors to?temperature change. Soil degradation is believed?to own?resulted?in the?loss of two-thirds of all terrestrial carbon storage from soils and plants since the 19th century.

For the past 100 years,?the quantity?of rain?we've?received has been roughly?identical. However,?we often?hear about floods and droughts nowadays. Why? There are many aspects?to the present?but one major fundamental problem is that degraded soil can’t hold the rainwater because it?doesn't?have much organic content. As we saw earlier, soil?that's?covered with vegetation becomes rich in organic content. When the soil has enough organic content, it becomes?a sort of a?sponge. So, when it rains, the soil can absorb the water and hold it. This stored water is then released gradually into the rivers and lakes. But when?there's?no organic content, the soil?isn't?able to?absorb this water. So when it rains, floods happen; and when?there's?no rain, we see droughts.

74% of the poor are directly?tormented by?soil degradation globally. Farmer’s suicide is an everyday story now.?within the?last 20 years, over 3 lakh farmers have committed suicide in India.?the most?reason is that?such a big amount of?farmers?became?entrapped?during the regeneration?of debt.?they need?to borrow more and?more cash?for chemical inputs but their crop yields and incomes are declining, year after year. On top of that, crop losses – some years?because of?drought, some years?because of?excessive rains. All?this can be?because the soil?isn't any?longer as alive?as it?wont to?be.?it's?become dry and broken. If soil is rich, will any farmer commit suicide? If the soil is rich to even grow food for his?circle of relatives, will anyone commit suicide? Will anyone migrate, leaving their traditional land to unknown places, if the soil is rich? We must understand, for a farmer, if he loses all his crops, then for?a whole?year he and his family will?must?struggle for food. Because for farmers,?the most?asset is their land, their soil.

By 2050,?an increase?and food and water scarcity may force?quite?1 billion people to migrate to other areas and nations. Since 1990, land disputes have played a key part in over 90% of Africa’s major wars and conflicts. High food costs?are?blamed for widespread protest movements since the?revolution?and also the?Arab Spring.?the answer?– Policy actions to bring back?a minimum of?3-6% organic content in Soil.?there's?an urgent?have to?bring back?a minimum of?3-6% organic content?within the?soil – by bringing the land under shade from vegetation & enriching the soil through plant litter and animal waste. All that?has to?happen is soil must be covered with vegetation – whatever kind – plants, trees, shrubs, grasses, etc.

According to experts,?we are able to?reverse the soil condition?within the?next 15-20 years if we take action now. However, if we?wait?another 20 years to act,?it'll?take 150-200 years to regenerate it. If soil is revived, if?it's?a minimum of?3-6% organic content,?we are able to?mitigate the six major global issues that we?face?today:

·?we will?secure nutritious food for all.

· Biodiversity,?that's?life?within the?soil, can thrive.

· Reduction in?heating?which may?make our planet?cooler.

·?we are able to?make sure that?water cycles?retreat to?in balance and water?is obtainable?to any or all.

· The livelihood of our farmers?may be?significantly enhanced.

Right now, the problem has reached such a place that individual action is not going to be the solution. The solution can only happen if the solution gets enshrined in the policy of every nation on the planet. Just to give an example of this, there was a time when we could build a house whichever way we wanted. But today, if we want to build, we have to allow some space. If we build more than what we should, the respective authorities will come and demolish the house. But such a law does not exist for agricultural lands anywhere in the world. If someone has, for example, 10 acres of land, he can plow every inch of it, and turn it into a desert in 10-15 years but there is no one to question this.

We may own the lands. But the soil is not our property. It’s a legacy that has come to us from previous generations in its living condition. It is our fundamental responsibility that we pass it on to the next generation in living conditions, otherwise, we will be taking away the basic source of life for future generations.