As millions of people across the globe tuned in to celebrate Mahashivratri 2022 with Sadhguru, he took the opportunity to alert everyone about the alarming state of the world’s soil, and the disastrous consequences that await us in the coming decades – unless we all express our will and take action.
Sadhguru: As a global civilization, we have reached a point where every responsible scientist in this field is pointing out that in the next 20 to 25 years, we will have a serious food crisis. Unfortunately, we have very short memories. Before 1950, there were famines in this country that took millions of lives. The 1943 famine took 3 million lives – that is the number of people who died of hunger. It is not like a bomb that happens suddenly.
Dying of hunger is a terrible process. We forget and are once again driving ourselves in that direction. Scientists worldwide are saying that by 2045, we will be producing 40% less food than we do right now, and the global population will be over 9 billion. That is not a world you want to live in. That is not a world you want your children to live in.
The food that we are eating and the soil that we are using up is not ours. We are using up the soil of the unborn children. This is a crime. So, we have launched a movement already. In the last eight months, I have been talking to various heads of state, environmental ministers, and agricultural ministers across the world. Everywhere, everyone knows this needs to happen, but the problem is that the people have not spoken.
People have not expressed long-term interest in their own lives. They are asking for trinkets, so governments are giving them trinkets. This is the time for every responsible citizen to express that we have a long-term interest in our lives. We must express that we are not only concerned about ourselves but also about the future generations.
There are many things happening as a part of this. I will address the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP-15) that 170 countries will participate in. We have prepared an elaborate soil policy which will go to every country. We have written to 730 political parties in the world because it is very important every political party, irrespective of their philosophies, ideologies, and whatever else they believe in, must bring soil and ecological concerns into their election manifestos. This will only happen if people speak up.
Unfortunately, it is a silent democracy. Democracy does not work like that. Democracy is a rule of the people. If the people do not give a mandate to the government, how will the governments invest long-term? If people express long-term commitment, governments will do the same thing.
From the 21st of March, I am riding from London on a lone motorcycle for 30,000 kilometers across 26 nations, in 100 days. For these 100 days, every one of you must say something about soil for at least five to ten minutes a day. This is important. Use your social media, your Twitter, your Facebook, your Telegram, whatever you have. If you do not know how to do these things, we have released tool kits explaining how to open these accounts, and how to manage them. All the information you need will be provided on our website called SaveSoil.org. The whole world should speak of soil in those 100 days.
If we get 3 to 4 billion people to speak about soil, our concern for soil, and our concern for unborn children, no government can ignore it. This is not a protest. This is not some kind of pressure tactic. This is an expression of the will of the citizens. It is very important that a responsible expression happens in a democratic society.
We have come from the soil; we eat of the soil, and when we die, we get back to the soil. Soil is the only magic where if you bury death, it sprouts life. Regenerating soil across the world is important. As you know, in this country, hundreds and thousands of farmers have committed suicide. It is always explained as, “Oh, they had a bank loan, so he killed himself.” I want to ask you: if you had a farm, and you had a bank loan, but you had rich soil; you could grow food at least for your family – would you kill yourself? You would not.
People are killing themselves because it is becoming hopeless to work on a farm. The soil has become weak. The nourishment in the food that you are eating is way less than what people ate here 50 to 100 years ago. We are not talking about a small aberration – we are talking about soil extinction. That is where we are going. The UN agencies are saying we have soil on this planet only for another 60 to 80 harvests. What are you going to give your children? What kind of world are you going to leave for them?
So, please, for these 100 days, keep yourself alive – five to ten minutes of your time could save the world.
