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Magic Of Soil

The Only Magic Material that Turns Death into Life.

Sadhguru


The Save Soil movement is about bringing humanity together to keep the magic of soil alive.

Watch The Save Soil Documentary

What is soil
Most of us are familiar with words and concepts such as Climate Change, Carbon Emissions, Air Pollution and Water Scarcity, but very few have focused attention on Soil. For millennia, life on earth has been sustained by a thin layer of fertile soil on the earth's crust.

But...
What exactly is soil and what does it do?

Let us explore through a quiz below.

Question 1 / 6

Soil is ______

Tree sapling growing from the ground

Soil is the basis of our lives. But...

Agriculture, deforestation, and other factors have degraded and eroded topsoil at alarming rates. Globally, 52% of agricultural land is already degraded. The planet is in crisis. If current rates of soil degradation continue, this would be the end of life as we know it.

Soil desertification

Very Degraded

Degraded

Stable

No Vegetation

The Planet is in Crisis

Crisis

Food Crisis

In 20 years, 40% less food is expected to be produced for 9.3 billion people.

Poor soil leads to poor nutritional value. Today's fruits and vegetables already contain 90% fewer nutrients.

2 billion people suffer from nutritional deficiencies leading to multitude of diseases.

Crisis

Water Scarcity

Depleted soils cannot absorb and regulate water flows.

Lack of water retention leads to water scarcity, droughts & floods.

Organic matter can hold up to 90% of its weight in water and release it slowly over time. This is a big help in drought-prone areas.

Crisis

Loss Of Bio-Diversity

Scientists say that around 27000 species of life forms are becoming extinct every year due to loss of habitat.

The crisis has reached a point where 80% of the insect biomass has gone.

Loss of biodiversity further disrupts the soil habitat and prevents soil regeneration.

Crisis

Climate Change

Carbon stored in soil is 3x that in living plants, and 2x that in the atmosphere, which means soil is crucial for carbon sequestration.

If the world's soils are not revitalized, they could release 850 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere contributing to climate change. This is more than all of humanity's emissions in the last 30 years combined.

Crisis

Loss Of Livelihood

Thousands of farmers are committing suicide due to depletion in soil.

74% of the poor are directly affected by land degradation globally.

It is estimated that soil extinction is costing the world up to US$ 10.6 trillion every year.

Crisis

Conflict And Migration

Population growth, and food and water scarcity could cause over 1 billion to migrate to other regions and countries by 2050.

Land issues have played a significant role in over 90% of major wars and conflicts in Africa since 1990.

From the French Revolution to the Arab Spring, high food prices have been cited as a factor behind mass protest movements.

Soil-in-hands
Soil-in-hands

Soil: A holistic solution

Almost every major ecological crisis is, to some degree or form, a consequence or symptom of the degradation of soil. Similarly, almost every environmental or environment-related pain point can be addressed by creating healthy soil.

It is, in fact, a fallacy to think we can address any one aspect of our environment without addressing the whole, because no aspect of the ecosystem functions in isolation. No solution is complete until we become conscious that life is one single complex phenomenon, all of which is happening in unison. In many ways, Soil is the underlying platform upon which life springs forth. If we fix soil, we have the best chance of fixing the whole.

Soil Revitalization

Global Policy Draft Recommendations & Sustainable Soil Management

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soil

What Are Experts Saying?

Maria Helena Semedo

Deputy Director General
The Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations

Ibrahim Thiaw

Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Under-Secretary-General, United Nations

Ovais Sarmad

Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Dr. Rattan Lal

World Food Prize Awardee, 2020

Distinguished Professor of Soil Science, Ohio State University

Appointed by US President Biden to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development

Jean-François Soussana

Nobel Laureate as Part of IPCC Team Soil Scientist & Vice Chairman National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food & Environment, France

Dr. Jo Handelsman

Former Science Advisor to President Barack Obama
Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at University of Wisconsin

Erik Solheim

Former UN Environment Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

Stewart Maginnis

Deputy Director General, IUCN

Dr. Naoko Yamamoto

Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization

Manoj Juneja

Assistant Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)

Claire Chenu

Senior Soil Scientist, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France Professor, AgroParis Tech Institute

Patrizia Heidegger


Director for Global Policies & Sustainability, European Environmental Bureau

Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy

Director of the Coordination Office of the G20 Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation & Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats

Paul Luu

Executive Secretary, 4 Per 1000 Initiative

Ronald Vargas

Secretary, Global Soil Partnership at UN FAO

Shamila Nair-Bedouelle

Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO

Tim Christopherson

Head, Nature for Climate Branch, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Bishow Parajuli

Country Head, India , United Nations World Food Programme

Dr Johan Rockstrom

Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Dr. Elaine Ingham

Soil Microbiologist

Dr. Joachim von Braun

Agricultural Scientist & President, Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Dr. Bala Subramaniam

Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School
Director, Sadhguru Center for a Conscious Planet at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, A Harvard teaching Hospital

Nadia Isler

Director of the SDG Lab in the Office of the Director-General of UN Office at Geneva (UNOG)

Dr. Iyad Abumoghli

Founder and Director, United Nations Environment Programme - Faith for Earth

Dr. Richard Cruse

Professor, Agronomy Department, Iowa State University
Director, Iowa Water Center

Tony Rinaudo

Principal Climate Advisor, World Vision Australia

Dr. Manuel Otero

Director General of Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Dr. Gaius Eudoxie

Soil Scientist
Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought Under UNCCD
Member of Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils under Global Soil Partnership, FAO

AS Kiran Kumar

Space Scientist;
Former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization

Dr Vibha Dhawan

Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute

Commodore Amit Rastogi

Chairman and Managing Director, National Research Development Corporation

Dr. Daniel Rasse

Department Head, Biogeochemistry & Soil Quality
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Dr. David Yawson

Senior Agri-Food Systems & Environmental Scientist

Senior Lecturer & Director of Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies University of the West Indies, Cave Hill

Former Advisor to Government of Ghana & Several International Development Organizations

Allain Bougrain

Environmentalist & President, French League for the Protection of Birds

Morag Gamble

Founder, Permaculture Education Institute

Dr. TV Ramachandran

Scientist & Coordinator at the Energy and Wetland Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Sciences

H.E. Dr. Mohamed bin Mubarak Bin Daina

Special Envoy for Climate Affairs &
Chief Executive, Supreme Council for Environment, Bahrain

Dr. Saravanan Kandasami

Organic Farmer
Former Soil Scientist at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Prof. Ramesh Chand

Agricultural Economist & Member, NITI Aayog

Pravesh Sharma, IAS

Co-Founder and CEO at Kamatan Farm Tech Pvt Ltd

Sanjeev Sanyal

Member of the Economic Advisory Council to India’s Prime Minister
Author & Economist

Nikola Rahnev

Awardee, Green Person Award for 2020, Bulgaria
Founder, Gorata BG - the largest ecological organization in Bulgaria

T Vijay Kumar, IAS (Retd.)

Head of Natural Farming Program, Govt. Andhra Pradesh
Executive Vice-Chairman, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (A Govt. Corporation for Farmers' Empowerment)

David Roggero

President of Aapresid (Argentine No-till Farmers Association)

What science says?

S.O.S - Save Our Soil?

Soil Management

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Indian Space Research Organisation

Biodiversity

Globally around 24 billion tons of fertile soil and 27,000 bio-species are lost each year

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UN Report: The World's farms stretched to 'a breaking point'

Climate Change

The world's climate-stressed and pollution-degraded farming and agricultural system must shift quickly to sustianable practices to feed...

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Sadhguru-Image

Oh Soil

Quotes

The fragrance of the soil
Somehow is more tenderness to me
than the fancy fragrance of the flower

The strength and sensitivity of life
held in the soil
lets off waves of passion of a
different sort.

Passion not of a person
but of my species
that has gone insensitive
to all that nurtures it
and absorbs it at its end.

As I walk barefoot, I break down
with Passions so profound
that it defies all descriptions.

Oh' Soil, My life


Poem by Sadhguru

Hands-with-mud

LET US MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Soil

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