Maharashtra Government and Sadhguru Come Together in Mumbai for Save Soil 

by Suman Gupta

Sadhguru meets with the press in Mumbai at the Jio Convention Center before the long-awaited mega Save Soil public event, which will be attended by senior Maharashtra government leaders. After riding over 25,000 kilometers, Sadhguru addressed members of the media, responding to a variety of questions about different aspects of the Save Soil movement.

Responding to a question about the key takeaways from the exhaustive Soil Policy Handbook, Sadhguru describes agriculture as a practical activity, which has a commercial basis and is also the foundation of our very survival. He speaks about the importance of addressing farming pragmatically. Commenting on the term ‘organic’, Sadhguru explains that it does not adequately qualify food in any specific way. He cites the alarming statistic that if we were to take away all chemicals and fertilizers today, food production would come down to 25% of what it is right now. Rather, he encourages a focus on raising organic content in the soil that, when heightened, will naturally reduce the need for chemicals and fertilizers. In closing, he describes the three-pronged strategy through which farmers can be incentivized to raise the organic content in agricultural lands.

Earlier today, Sadhguru met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Environment Minister Shri Aditya Thackeray. Sadhguru handed the Soil Policy Handbook to the ministers who pledged full support to the cause of Save Soil.

Later, in a public event scheduled at Jio World Convention Center, Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray will be signing an MoU with Isha Outreach, the social arm of Isha Foundation. This is an expression of the government’s commitment to Save Soil and an assurance to the people that all the necessary steps will be swiftly taken towards soil regeneration.

In addition, Sadhguru will be launching the third edition of Majhi Vasundhara, an innovative initiative undertaken by the Department for Environment and Climate Change that focuses on all the five elements of nature called Panchmahabhutas.

In India, nearly 30% of fertile soils in the country have already become barren and are incapable of yield. The primary objective of the Save Soil Movement is to urge all nations of the world to mandate a minimum of 3-6% organic content in agricultural soils through urgent policy reforms. Without this minimum organic content, soil scientists have warned of the imminent death of soil, a phenomenon termed ‘soil extinction.’

At a Save Soil event in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Sadhguru in expressing his wholehearted recognition of the critical need for and value of the movement. Sadhguru presented the Soil Policy Handbook to the Prime Minister, which offers practical, scientific solutions that governments can put into action based on the soil type, latitudinal positions, and agricultural traditions of a given nation.

Since Sadhguru’s arrival in India, the Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have expressed their full support for the movement and to bringing about on-the-ground action.

Since the start of his lone motorcycle journey which began on March 21, 2022 and covered Europe, Central Asia and hte Middle East, Sadhguru reached the Western port city of Jamnagar, Gujarat on May 29. During the Indian leg of the journey across 9 Indian states, he has passed through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The movement, till date, has touched billions while 74 countries have agreed to act to save their nations’ soils. To a topic undeniably absent in mass awareness, since the start of Sadhguru’s journey across 27 nations, over 2.7 billion people have spoken about soil. Over 15 lakh children in India have written to the Prime Minister, requesting him to act to save the nation’s soil and their collective future. More than 65,000 students from more than 300 schools in over 25 districts of UP have written letters to the Prime Minister.