Written by: Gurtaaj Jaspal
The Earth was created a very long time ago and as we know today it has blessed us with many important things like water, air and land for survival. However, the soil that we use to grow our plants and vegetables wasn’t around before 450 million years ago! As the earth starts to age and humans discover soil they make great advancements, they study it and find out what to plant, how to plant, how to help it grow and where it grows best. We also discovered different tools to help us plant-like shovels to dig. As we advanced more and more technologically we failed to realize that our soil was getting destroyed.
First of all, taking care of soil is very important for the growth of a healthy plant. A fertilized soil means it has enough nutrients to feed the needs of a growing plant. Not enough fertilizer can make the soil lose its nutrients but too much fertilizer ruins the soil’s health. It is more common nowadays that a farmer will use an artificial fertilizer than a natural/organic one, a lot of the farmers overuse these artificial fertilizers and ruin the soil’s health. However, soil with bad health is a worse situation than you might think! Over-fertilized soil will not be able to grow plants for years! Farmers can lose their land like this and because this is their career and source of income, it causes many problems for them. Farmer’s families are also affected, farmers are usually the breadwinners in their families and if they can’t grow crops which is their only source of income then that affects their family very negatively. Without money, they can’t buy new clothes, pay their bills or eat clean food. Not to forget, some farmers eat what they grow so if they can’t grow anything then they can’t eat it.
Another way soil is damaged is if it doesn’t get enough water. If the soil doesn’t have enough water but a farmer tries to grow plants there then it could cause two problems. One, the plant would not grow properly. Two, the land could dry up and not be in a state that you can use it to grow your plants. This could be even worse if weeds are added into the picture. Weeds are unwanted plants that use up the resources that other plants need in order to flourish. If you are already short on water for the soil and the weeds are taking whatever water is left then the soil would have no choice but to give up, killing every plant that was growing in it.
Invasive species is also another way a lot of the soil on earth is ruined. Invasive species are species of plants and animals (in this case only plants) that don’t belong in a certain part of the earth. For example, you wouldn’t put a polar bear in a rainforest just like you wouldn’t grow a watermelon in mushy land That soil is not meant for the plant and will not be able to support healthy growth for the plant since it has insufficient nutrients and is naturally incompatible with the plant.
Soil is an important substance that is to be kept safe for as long as the earth is still a planet with life. Without soil, we would be unable to obtain our food or grow our flowers. Knowing that soil is very important for life on this planet there are numerous corporate farms that do unhealthy practices that ruin the soil. Mostly due to intensive farming we are losing 30 soccer fields of soil every minute! If the soil degradation continues the way it is going then only 60 years are left for farming. Iowa is a great example of a place that is facing great problems with its soil. Before the 20th century, the topsoil depth was around 14-18 inches and by the start of the century, it was down to 6-8 inches!. In just one spring Iowa lost nearly 14 million tonnes of soil. Healthy soil is crucial for the life of humans, animals, and plants. We need to preserve soil, fast, before it’s too late.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/05/terrawatch-soil-earth-origins-life-erosion
https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/why-soil-is-disappearing-from-farms/
Image Sources:
https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/the-15-worst-invasive-plants-in-america-52958