In a lively and educational conversation on “Soil and Agriculture,” Sadhguru is joined by the Chief meteorologist of ABC news, Ginger Zee. They discuss various important topics brought to light by the Save Soil movement while jokingly touching on Sadhguru’s extreme commitment to bring attention to the global soil crisis. For instance, as part of the Save Soil Movement, Sadhguru, on 21st March, 2022, embarked on a motorcycle journey of 30,000 km across 27 nations, passing through the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East to raise awareness and build political consensus for urgent policy initiatives to prevent soil extinction.
In particular, Sadhguru highlights the many problems that arise when the organic content of soil drops below a minimum level of 3 percent, and he elaborates upon the ramifications of this drop upon our holistic health. And since virtually every person on the planet is affected by soil quality, Sadhguru discusses the potential for soil to serve as a unifying factor for us as a human species. Though we have split the earth’s vast land into countries based on boundary lines, the soil itself can be a source of commonality when we look at what is needed for soil to thrive.
In addition, Sadhguru emphasizes the importance of creating specific national policies to ensure healthy soil practices, and he discusses how the Save Soil movement has had specific successes in that regard. There is much to enjoy in this wide-ranging and informative conversation.
Regarding the incredible properties of topsoil, Sadhguru says: “There is no such magical material like topsoil on this planet anywhere in the known universe, and 87% of the life that you see around you, whether it’s a worm, insect, bird, tree, man, woman, child – everybody – comes from the soil. So, such a magical material. Unfortunately, in the last 70 to 100 year’s time, 52% of this topsoil is gone. On an average, not a single nation has the minimum 3% organic content needed in the soil. The micronutrient levels in the soil has come down by 90% in the United States from the 20th century to now. We have destroyed it, or degraded it to a point where it could be nearly useless.”
“Above all, this is kind of a mother of life; we are murdering the foundations of life, not realizing who we are today is a consequence of the soil, or the organisms in the soil – a handful of soil has 8 to 10 billion organisms. These zillions of organisms is what manufactures life on this planet. Even in terms of evolutionary development of who we are, we are a consequence of this soil – if you give me a minute, I will put this into context. See, nearly a billion years ago, before this phenomena called photosynthesis started… what photosynthesis means is, plant life learned how to cook their food by using perpetual energy of the sun. Before that started, the atmospheric oxygen on this planet was approximately a little over 1% of shade, or 1%, that’s all it was; today it is 21%.”
“That’s why all of us are alive, we know that if we hold our nose we cannot live. If we don’t breathe we cannot exist. So, photosynthesis has been the basis of enhancement of oxygen, and that is the basis of all the complex life on this planet. There are many other aspects to it, but this is one key element. But in the last 1,000 years we brought down the photosynthesis on the planet by 85%. 85% drop in photosynthesis: what’s our plan for life? It’s really ridiculous. So, right now we are at the cusp of time; if we act, in 10 to 15 years’ time we can make a significant turnaround.”
Sadhguru goes on to explain the relationship between soil and water usage. “We should talk about water, because that is something that people do understand, and see happening quickly, and can comprehend the desertification; water use, when you have soil that is stripped, it takes more water, correct? See, right now nearly 67% of the world’s fresh water is used for agriculture. In India, 84% of the fresh water is used for agriculture. But we have demonstrated this clearly with our farmers, where about 130,000 farmers we have converted into regenerative agriculture, which we call as tree-based agriculture.”
“Here, if you raise the organic content to 8 to 10%, your irrigation requirement will come down to 30% of what it is right now. If you’re using 100 liters of water, it will come down to 30 liters. This is very, very important, I’m glad that you raised that question, because it is estimated by 2032, 3.5 billion people will be water stressed on the planet. In these 45 days of riding across Europe, everywhere, people’s response has been nothing short of spectacular – spectacular response! And most agricultural ministries and others, 11 of these governments have signed MoUs with us. That means the narrative is shifting within the agricultural ministries, and above all, they’re beginning to recognize soil as a living entity, which is the most important thing.”
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