It is said that entire ecosystem is built on soil like a mesh of different plants, microorganisms, water, minerals, animal excreta and much more. If any of these organisms go haywire who suffers the most, is the mankind; it’s like musical notes, any one note goes out of tune, it all disturbs the symphony.
Now a days, this symphony of nature has seen many ups and downs and soil being one of the most important affected amongst all. Afterall, we humans are directly or indirectly connected with this disturbed soil which is the key factor for our natural food.
We farmers need to wake up and focus on Soil health, before it’s too late.
Today, most of the farmer’s focus on improving crop yield, which is right at their point as they need money; they us chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides for the same. Important note here is they don’t know the amount of use of these fertilizers & their harmful effects; this has caused huge harm unknowingly or knowingly to the soil, farm ecosystem and human health.
Creating awareness about soil health is the only way we can protect our soil and in-turn protect our farm ecosystem and human health.
How to do it? – Soil health depends on pH of soil, water holding capacity of soil, natural microorganisms present in soil and minerals in soil. Now, to focus on soil health, we farmers or whoever intends to do farming need to test the soil with all these factors first being the pH of Soil.
What is Soil sodicity? Soil sodicity is nothing but presence of sodium ions in soil. Sodicity degrades soil properties weakening the bond between soil and particles. We need to ensure that soil is free or adequate from such sodium ions in order to accelerate crop growth.
Use of organic manures: Organic manures are the need of the hour and will improve soil health immensely. They provide all the nutrients that are required for soil health and plant growth. They also maintain the C:N ratio that is must for increasing the fertility and productivity of soil. The soil texture is also improved with natural manures and improve the water holding capacity and help grow natural microorganisms.
At our farm we use Jivamrut, Gaukripa, Neem oil Sprays and Compost that’s made from dry leaves, rotten fruits and left overs. That’s the best organic way to ensure soil health and accelerate plant growth organically.
Permaculture, helps soil health? Yes, permaculture is the way you design the farm ecosystem which accelerates the soil health in-turn creating clean vegetation. Giving the right direction to water flows within the farm, growing multiple plants making it an agro-forest of plants that help soil to get nourished naturally.
It’s up to us how we ensure the soil health via different ways.
According to my experience as a farmer & organic brand founder, it’s very important to follow some basics before farming in our soil:
- Soil testing must after every harvest or before the start of next cropping season
- Periodic check of pH of Soil
- Choice of crops you cultivate at your farm based on the soil parameters
- Adopt to permaculture for soil health and build agro-forest
- Focus on organic farming & not use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides
For all of us to know, there are more than 1000 government soil testing laboratories where our farmers can visit and perform soil testing.
