Save Soil. Why?

Sadhguru has been relentless in bringing awareness about soil losing its organic content for decades through the Save Soil campaign. As he dumbs it down for everyone to understand, he says, “if you add organic content to sand, the sand becomes soil. If you remove organic content from the soil, the soil becomes sand.” A desert is all sand. And this desertification is spreading globally.

Why is soil losing its organic content?

The microbial life in the soil requires organic content that comes from vegetation and animal waste. Unfortunately, deforestation has forced many animals and microbial life forms to become extinct. Likewise, the use of chemical fertilizers has caused microbial life to perish.

Fertilizers seem to increase the crop size, but the grown food is devoid of nutrients that can come only from an organic source. The nutrient level in fruits in many parts of the world has seen a reduction of more than six hundred percent. Therefore, the amount of nutrients you get from eating, for example, one apple, is six times less than what you would have got from an apple a few decades ago. In other words, you would need to eat six to seven apples to get the same amount of nutrients.

Therefore, eating fresh fruits today may make you feel full, but you do not get enough nutrients to stay healthy. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, the maximum number of deaths occurred in rich countries just because the people in these countries lack the nutrients that enhance the ability of their bodies to fight diseases.

Sadhguru stresses the need to enhance the quality of the soil. A soil rich in organic content would produce food rich in nutrients. Soil that is devoid of organic life is just sand. If you grow food by adding fertilizers, the food will be full of that chemical fertilizer that will eventually end up in your body.

According to Sadhguru, there is still time to revert soil quality decline. But we need to take action on a massive scale which is possible only if the governments are forced to enact responsible laws and policies. But, as we all know, politicians in the government can be forced only when a majority of the population votes in a way that demands positive action. Therefore, you and I need to raise awareness about this impending disaster that we may still be able to avoid.