The Living Soil

If you were to rid the soil of all the life that exists in it, it should become an odourless mass. The same holds true for water. Together soil and water are the basis for our existence, as they produce our food. Yet, the life that soil contains in nature in the form of is being systematically being eliminated, a dangerous and fatal consequence of intensive chemical agriculture.

With that message, Dr.Sultan Ismail, soil scientist and leading expert the Ecoscience Research Foundation advocated correctives to the audience at the Horticulture Campaign organized by SUBHAM in Kasturba Nagar, Chennai on October 16, 2004.

Dr.Ismail's engaging talk contained a mix of advice and home truths, and outlined the trends in Indian agriculture that need immediate correctives.

His observations:

• Blind addition of chemical fertilizers has led to rigid soils that have to be tilled at heavy cost, involving physical labour and use of large quantity of water. 
• The development of hybrids for productivity has reduced natural resistance of food crops to pests. For instance, the reduction of leaf sizes to produce more grain has exposed the plants to pest attacks. In the natural course, the plants had better protection but would have yielded less as some of energy would have been consumed by the bigger leaves rather than be used to produce more ears.
• Deploy manure and water not at the base of trees, but at the canopy circumference of the soil, as this is the point at which the roots are.
• Rooftop gardens can be created without danger to parapet walls, by keeping pots three feet away from the walls. This would eliminate the risk of cracks to the walls.
• In the case of beams, the pots can be placed a foot and half away from the beam.
• Old tyres can be stacked up and used as a "pot" to grow plants. Many vegetable plants need only that much soil.
• Goats are great scientists. When they leave a particular untouched, you can be sure that the particular plant species is a pesticide. Such plants like Adathoda, Pungan and Thulasi can be safely ground and used as a mixture to keep beneficial plants free of pests.
• An apple a day (in the chemically grown environment) will bring the doctor into play. Apples today are grown in many places in an intensive manner, using a lot of chemical pesticides. They are in addition waxed to look shining and bright, adding to the jeopardy.
• White sago is produced through acid bleaching. The sago can damage the intestinal system and health in general.
• If greens look a little worm eaten, they are safer, because pesticide has not been used. Better still, residents in cities can grow their own greens, using old utensils and discarded plastic tubs.