Sadhguru: Why I am riding motorcycle for 30,000 kms in 100 days

We have heard of dinosaurs and dodos going extinct, and we are talking about how pandas and polar bears may go extinct. But the issue now is of soil extinction. How is soil becoming extinct? We must understand, that if you add enough organic content to sand, it will become rich soil. Similarly, if you take away all the organic content from soil, it will become sand. Today, we are turning soil into sand because there is no organic material anymore – no leaves or animal waste. 

For any soil to have agricultural potential, it must have a minimum of 3–6% organic content. But in large parts of the world, it is well below 1%. In 60% of India’s soil, it is below 0.5%. Our ability to grow food itself is disappearing because we are turning the land into a desert. Right now, United Nations statistics say that the world may have agricultural soil only for another 80–100 crops. This means after 45–60 years, there could be severe food shortages, and getting rich soil will become the basis of wars on this planet. 

Soil extinction is a new term, but soil extinction itself is not new. For the last 100–150 years, we have been unfolding this process, and now it has reached a cusp. If we take concrete action now, then in the next 25–30 years, we could turn the soil around quite reasonably. But if we wait to act after 50 years, it will take 100–150 years to turn the soil around. That means four or five generations will go through terrible states of life because of the weak condition of soil. That is why the urgency. 

We have the opportunity to turn this around. To ensure that soil has at least 3–6% organic content in every nation across the planet, it must get enshrined in government policy. This is why I am doing a lone motorcycle ride from London to southern India, covering 30,000 km and 27 nations in 100 days. It is not a joyride. Along the way, we have fixed up appointments with various heads of state, agriculture and environment ministers, influencers and well-known personalities. We have also prepared a general policy document with special editions for each region of the world. We have written to 730 political parties in the world to bring soil regeneration into their political agendas. The idea behind this motorcycle ride is just for this – if I fly into different countries, doors will not open. They have to see that I am staking my life a bit. 

So we will do this, but people need to be on board. If people don't care, why will any government do anything? A government is there only to manifest the people's mandate. That is the responsibility that people have. We are trying to move sixty per cent of the world's electorate, that is at least 3.5 billion people, to speak up about their concern for soil. You don't have to go and fix the soil; you just have to make your voice loud and clear. This does not mean you have to go out and shout on the street – use technology: Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, or whatever you have. Every day, spend 5–10 minutes and say something about soil. It will all get aggregated on the social media. If we can get 4 billion people talking about soil during these 100 days, no government on the planet can ignore it. Let us make it happen.

Note: As part of the Save Soil Movement, Sadhguru on 21st March 2022 embarked on a lone motorcycle journey of 30,000 km across 27 nations passing through the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East to raise awareness and build political consensus for urgent policy initiatives to prevent soil extinction. Sadhguru began the 100 days journey from London on March 21 and will culminate his journey in southern India, where Isha is implementing the ambitious Cauvery Calling project. The 12-year project will support farmers to plant 242 crore trees on their own farmlands through tree-based agriculture, bringing one-third of Cauvery basin under tree cover. 

The Save Soil Movement aims to reach 3.5 billion people globally or 60% of the world’s electorate who can vote to Save Soil. It is critical to get the whole world concerned and talking about this issue; to create a global momentum that cannot be ignored. To know more and to join the movement visit: Savesoil.org