𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹

                      

study on nutrients in food concluded that we would have to eat 8 oranges to get the same amount of Vitamin A as our grandparents did with one orange because soil depletion has caused massive drops in nutrient levels in food. (Scientific American)

2 billion people suffer from nutritional deficiencies (WHO)

Our Mission

Save Soil – a Global Movement to invoke a conscious approach to soil and planet in all. One of the main objectives of the movement is to show governments across the world that their citizens want policies that revitalize ecology and soil. 

Save Soil: A spiritual movement at heart

Opinion

Published on Jun 21, 2022 09:18 PM IST

Unfortunately, we have lost connection with what nurtures our life and how it is made. We are treating soil as an inert substance. No, it is a living system – the largest living system that we know in this universe. A handful of soil in a tropical country has 5–7 billion organisms.

Sadhguru

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Sadhguru

People describe me as a Yogi. A Yogi means that you have consciously obliterated the boundaries of your individuality. That means you feel what ishappening around you all the time. I have crawled on this planet for 65 years now, so I know my life and everything that affects my life. People will naturally say,

“Okay, everyone has lived on this planet." “No, they have not lived on this planet; they have lived in their heads” – all psychological stuff. I don't have anything in my head, so I live on this planet. What supports life and what does not support life is always visible.

If I just walk on the land, I know what is happening there – whether it is alive or not. And it has been quite distressing to see what is happening. Land is generally screaming in most parts of the world, but you do not hear it because your own noise is big.

Unfortunately, we have lost connection with what nurtures our life and how it is made. We are treating soil as an inert substance. No, it is a living system – the largest living system that we know in this universe. A handful of soil in a tropical country has 5–7 billion organisms.

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Without their activity, we cannot exist. Even in the evolutionary scale of things, it is the activity of these microorganisms which has made us the way we are. We look so different from them, but 60% of our body is microorganisms; only 40% is from our parental genetics. If we are conscious of this, taking care of the soil would have been natural.

But every year, on an average, 27,000 species in the soil habitat are going extinct because people are living a high-heeled life. When I say a high-heeled life, I am not talking about women's fashions; I am talking about how people are doing everything possible to live away from the earth because somewhere, their aspiration has become heaven. They want to live somewhere else – but there is no other place to live.

Without the living systems being active in the soil, this life or any other life on the planet cannot exist. For 87% of the life on the planet, the source is in the first 12–15 inches of the soil – this is a fact. This is something that the Yogic culture has always recognised. Even today in India, because of the Yogic culture, before farmers step on their land, they always bow down to it because they treat soil as their mother.

Soil – A Unifying Force

Today we have found many aspects of our life to differentiate between human beings, to confront and conflict with each other. If people do not understand what the cosmic consciousness which unifies us is, they must at least understand that soil is a unifying force. Soil is the source of our existence. Whatever race, religion, nationality, caste, creed we may have, essentially, we all come from the soil, we live off the soil and when we die, we go back to the soil.

We have to touch base with common factors among all of us. Otherwise with our very intelligence and competence, we will destroy each other in the end. With this in mind, we launched the Conscious Planet – Save Soil movement. As a part of the movement, we are trying to touch 3.5 billion citizens across the world, to impress upon all political parties and governments to take to long-term soil regeneration policies. The most important aspect of this movement is that it is not against anyone. I want to use the movement not only as an ecological process, but also as a conscious process of unifying humanity. Please, let us make it happen.

Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.

              Soil Conservation

Soil is highly useful to us. We grow plants and trees in it. It holds the trees in place and supply nutrients and water to the plants to grow. The top soil is very healthy for plants to grow, and therefore, farmers take good care of the top soil for better yield.

However, a strong wind or heavy rains can easily remove the fertile top soil. The removal of soil by water or wind is called soil erosion. A forest is a great collector and storeroom of water. The root structure of a tree holds together the soil and stops soil erosion.

Soil erosion brings less fertile soil on the earth’s surface, if this process is not stopped well within time, the land may soon turn into a barren land or a desert. The crops will no longer grow in such an unfertile soil, and soon there will be food scarcity. Now who wants to go hungry to bed? We can prevent soil erosion by preserving the forests, and planting more trees.

How can we Conserve Soil?

When a piece of land is not being used for agriculture, it is a good idea to grow grass, plant, flowers and trees on it. Doing so, would keep the top soil firmly in place and prevent the soil erosion. Another good method is terrace farming. Farm lands on hill slopes are cut out into steps or terraces, so that when water runs down the slope, the top soil does not get washed away, and is absorbed in the same area.

Deforestation

The need to construct buildings, dams, shopping malls, extraction of ore, oil and natural gas has led to a reduction in forests. Deforestation refers to removing of trees from a forest area for the purpose of commercial use. It is a process that involves cutting down of trees and clearing a big forest patch for smaller bio-diverse ecosystems, such as, plantations,...

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Planting trees in semi-arid areas attracts rainfall and prevents such areas from becoming deserts. Aforestation prevents soil erosion and conserves the fertile top soil for agricultural use.

Employment through Afforesttaion

Governments on the globe have devised several tree-planting programs that engage people to sow seed and plant saplings. Thus, it provides job opportunities for people. Even ecotourism, help people to earn their livelihood.

Activity 2: Give Your Opinion!

On an A4 size paper, write your opinion on any one topic given below.

• Write a letter on Plants –