The top most layer of earth’s crust is known as soil and it is formed due to several physical, organic and chemical processes. The soil is an important terrestrial resource like water, which is largely neglected. The good health of soil is not only important for the high value crop production but also important for sustenance of ecosystem services. Soils are home to an estimated 25% of the world’s biodiversity and merely a teaspoon of healthy soil contains about one billion microorganisms. This richness of the soils is the foundation of life on the Earth. Apart from agriculture the top soil is valuable for many other purposes such as construction materials, grasslands and forests.

The erosion of topsoil and soil contamination leads to decline in productivity of land and biodiversity. The soil degradation is caused by various factors including adverse climatic conditions and human induced factors such as chemical farming, pollution and deforestation. Intensive chemical agriculture has destroyed soil health. Mainly due to neglect of the soil biological fertility, it has depleted the water holding capacity of soil; destroyed the biodiversity that provides food and nutritional security and protects the soil structural stability. The blend of high population, high agricultural production and diverse agro-climatic conditions creates more pressure on land which results in rise in risks related to land degradation.

Arresting rapid erosion of soil is highly crucial for countries like India which is second most populous country and second largest producer of food. Most people in India are still dependent on agriculture and livestock for their lives and livelihood. Healthy soil is not only important for producing healthy food but also to combat adverse impacts of climate change. Greenhouse gases that are causing climate change are also mitigated by healthy soil and root zone interactions.

Humans worldwide obtain more than 99.7% of their food from the soil. Further the ever deterioration of soil health across the globe has reduced the productivity of all natural ecosystems such as agriculture, water availability, forest and pasture ecosystems. The reduced productivity of ecosystems has also affected the nutrition level of human beings. Therefore, for the wellbeing of humans, cattle, wildlife and various other ecosystems, keeping good health of soil is important. The continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system within ecosystem and to sustain biological productivity, maintain the quality of air and water environments, and promote plant, animal and human health. Major functions of soils related to agriculture are infiltration and storage of water, retention and cycling of nutrients, pest and weeds suppression, detoxification of harmful chemicals, carbon sequestration and production of food and fibre.

To feed healthy mineral rich food to all and ensure economic security for more than 58% of the population of India, soil health is important.

At INORA, we recognise these interrelationships originated from soils and recommend major thrust on building the soil organic matter recycling based on earthworms, Vermicuture and bioremediation techniques. The basic building block is biomass which is required for feeding the soil for sustainable Soil Health Maintenance.