SAVE SOIL, what next?

 

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I am not a fan or follower of Sadguru, Jaggi Vasudev that he is in formal sense. He is a spiritual leader and founder of Isha Foundation in Coimbatore. I did visit his ashram at Coimbatore. It is not his hut, but a vast expanse of forest land which he has acquired and developed into a kind of spiritual resort that his followers visit to fix up inner engineering software inside their external hardware bodies.

Although I heard about negative aspects of Sadguru, I am drawn towards his ideas, missions that he has undertaken. Last time, it was RALLY FOR RIVER that attracted me. Visits to my town after I left it for graduation showed as to how river that we called Dnyanganga has nearly vanished over past five decades. Embankment in the upper reach called check dam nearly dried it for most times of the year. And then slowly, human encroachment took it over. Riverine ecosystem that ensured survival of humanity around it is now taken over by the piped water ecosystem. Loss of river has led to loss of plant life around it. Sand that we used to play in is now mud. Water that we used to swim in is now stagnant dirty swamp at places and times. So, I enrolled as a volunteer for this movement RALLY FOR RIVER contributing a bit to their tree plantation drive alongside of rivers. I am not sure as to how money collected is used. Are there really millions of trees planted on the embankment of rivers? Did this movement register any awareness and respect for rivers that we have? Are we still polluting them, by using them for defecation, washing, throwing human and animal bodies to wash away or rot? If it has achieved even for small miniscule population, I am glad, it served the purpose.

SAVE SOIL is another movement that Sadguru has undertaken this year. He undertook an arduous journey of 30,000 km in 100 days driving solo over motorcycle passing through 26 countries of Europe, Middle East and Asia; starting from London (UK) and culminating in Mysuru (Karnataka) on the 18^th June, 2022. It is remarkable for a man of his age. He has met many ministers, well known personalities and common people, addressing them to make them aware of soil degradation and urging them to have proper policies in their countries to save soil so that it continues to be a source of livelihood for the years to come. His enthusiasm and stamina is simply great.

We attended Sadguru’s SAVE SOIL rally on the 12^th June in the Jio World Centre at BKC, Mumbai. Sadguru’s rallies are meticulously organized and are often well supported by the people who matter. In Mumbai, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Environment Minister was the chief guest. The Secretary of the Govt exchanged MoU with Sadguru to work for SAVE SOIL movement. Sadguru (Photo 1) spoke so vehemently explaining the movement and engaging the youth instantly and stretching the argument in comparison to climate change that we are experiencing globally. Yes, soil even in the tropics (like layers of ice trapped in the northern hemisphere) does maintain the natural archive of climate change as recent study in the lake near the Andes mountains of Peru reveals. But, climate change is most important concern. And soil plays an important role in it. There is no question of one more important than other. He appeared to be exaggerating, repeating (or boring), but sure, he was not off the mark in his commitment towards the cause.

I asked many of this followers to know what they know about soil. Unfortunately, most had any faint idea except translating it in to local languages as mitti, mati, and repeating what Sadguru said of depleting organic matter in the soil. Their enthusiasm for SAVE SOIL movement, or better for SADGURU was infectious. He is God to them. And mind you that most of these followers are young Indians with a degree or two that each earned.

So, how do you sustain this tempo from mere hysteria to evolving knowledge based movement to save soil in practice involving mainly farmers?

I asked Dr Jaya N Surya, a renowned soil scientist associated with ICAR-the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP). Appreciating this movement, she says that soil resource management is essential to save soil, as it is integral to our food security.

Soil is the uppermost layer of earth crust evolved over millions of years, capable of supporting plant and animal life, which we as humans made it suitable for farming to support human civilization. It is a living system by itself, as a small amount of soil contains millions of microbes that are so useful, says Sadguru to further explain the importance of soil.

Over the years, with increasing human and animal population, soil is facing fatigue of a sort in terms of its fertility to produce more and more food for us, as we cultivate them. So, our soils are depleting in nutrients, turning salty, acidic, alkaline, even poisonous with arsenicals showing up on as we dig deep down for water in some areas. Increasing urbanisation is further reducing farm soils.

Rightly, this innovative campaign of “SOIL CAN ALSO GO EXTINCT” (Photo 2) is hard hitting our conscience.

Simply to start with, soils can be saved with recycling crop residues, composting, remediation, irrigation/water management, restoration of degraded lands and integrated land management.

When glamour of SAVE SOIL movement ends, the hard work begins…to soil the hands, body and clothes….to enrich it….And it is for all the stakeholders….

PS: Talking of soil, Dr P S Deshmukh, renowned plant physiologist philosophically and emotionally calls soil a mother, and without mother, nothing is possible. And this is very true, and as recent study (Rodbell et al. 2022 Nature 607: 301) on sedimentation locked up 100 metres and more below in the lake Junin in Andes (Peru) fed through nearby glaciers over years shows that mother soil in the tropics too reveals climate change that occurred as far back as 700 000 years, similar to layered history of ice cores trapped through five ice ages in the northern hemisphere. The last of ice age ended 12 000 years ago as greenhouse gas concentration started building up.