Rajasthan becomes second Indian state to sign MoU to save soil

Rajasthan has become the second Indian state to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to save soil by preventing and reversing desertification of fertile lands.

In the Save Soil programme held in Jaipur on Friday night, Rajesh Chand Meena, state minister for panchayat raj and rural development, Lalchand Kataria, state agriculture minister with Sadhguru, Founder of Isha Foundation, called for immediate policy-driven action to save the state and country's agricultural land from becoming barren.

A policy needs to be constituted to save soil in the world, he said, adding: "In India, the average organic content in agricultural soils is estimated to be 0.68 per cent, putting the country at high risk of desertification and soil extinction. About 30 per cent of the fertile soils in the country have already become barren and unable to yield."

Kataria and Sadhguru exchanged MoU to save the soil of the state by making farmer and soil friendly agriculture policies.

Sadhguru, who is currently on a 100-day, 30,000-km solo motorcycle journey across Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East to build a global consensus to address soil health, hit the Indian coast on May 29 at the port of Jamnagar, Gujarat.

During Sadhguru's stay in Jamnagar, the state of Gujarat became the first Indian state to sign an MoU to save soil.

Meanwhile Meena speaking on the occasion said: "Everything we see in nature comes from the soil and will go back to the soil. This movement is not Sadhguru's personal movement, it is for the benefit of the common man."

Thousands of people flocked to the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC) for the event. With music and dance performances by renowned folk artists Ila Arun, Kutle Khan and Isha's home troupe, Sounds of Isha and Isha Sanskriti.

Sadhguru launched the global movement to save soil in the wake of dangerous soil erosion, which could lead to the desertification of 90 per cent of the earth's agricultural soils by 2050, less than three decades from now.

The basic objective of the Save Soil campaign is to tackle the extinction of soil and to insist on ensuring at least 3-6 per cent organic matter in agricultural land through immediate policy reforms on all the countries of the world.