New Delhi Resounds with Sadhguru’s Call to Save Soil

Sadhguru on his 75th day of the Save Soil journey reached Delhi and the day saw another set of exciting engagements that included an event on Save Soil with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed by a public address at the jampacked IG Complex in New Delhi.

The Prime Minister in his address applauded the Save Soil Movement and was later presented with the Save Soil revitalization Handbook by Sadhguru.

Addressing a near-capacity crowd of 15 thousand people, a roaring and cheering audience in the IG complex, New Delhi, Sadhguru gave a clarion call for people to voice their concerns to save soil. Principal Economic Adviser, Government of India Shri Sanjeev Sanyal acknowledged the need for a huge effort worldwide to protect the soil in ensuring the planet remains habitable for future generations.

Sadhguru began his address by highlighting the grave threat of dying soil reminding the audience that we could be a generation that turned humanity back from the brink of disaster. 

In democratic nations, governments are elected for a limited term and it is the people's mandate that inspires government to act on something that bears results in the long term. “People mandate is not just by vote but by voice,” said Sadhguru and urged people to “keep their voice up till we solve the soil issue in this country and the rest of the world."

Stressing that all other environmental issues are relevant as long as the soil is alive, Sadhguru called for the need to treat soil extinction as a separate issue. Once soil extinction begins to manifest, none of these things will matter as the degrading soil crisis he asserted is “of existential significance” having “existential consequences upon our lives.”

The event started with vibrant performances from artisans from different states, as Sadhguru entered the venue, which was followed by appealing performances by Singer Mohit Chauhan, Classical dancer Radhe Jaggi, and Isha Samskriti.

Earlier at the Save Soil event at Vigyan Bhawan, PM Narendra Modi joined Sadhguru to express his wholehearted support and encouragement for the movement. Terming the movement, a huge service to humanity, the Prime Minister acknowledged the painstaking motorcycle journey of Sadhguru.

While expressing his confidence that the world, because of this journey, would have developed an affection towards the soil, he also quipped that they would have also witnessed the strength of Indian soil. Sadhguru after the event presented the Save Soil Policy Handbook to Prime Minister.

The handbook offers practical, scientific solutions that governments can put into action to revitalize the soil in their country.

The day marked the 75th day of Sadhguru’s 100-day lone motorcycle Journey for Soil across 27 countries. The movement, to date, has touched 2.5 billion people while 74 countries have agreed to act to save their nations’ soils. Over 15 lakh children in India have written to the Prime Minister as well, requesting him to take action to save the nation’s soil and their collective future.

The primary objective of the Save Soil Movement is to urge all nations of the world to mandate a minimum of 3-6% organic content in agricultural soils through urgent policy reforms. Without this minimum organic content, soil scientists have warned of the imminent death of soil, a phenomenon they are terming ‘soil extinction.’ In India, nearly 30% of fertile soils in the country have already become barren and are incapable of yield. The United Nations has warned that at current rates of soil degradation, 90% of the earth could turn into a desert by 2050- less than three decades from now.

To avert this catastrophe, Sadhguru initiated the Save Soil movement in March this year and traveled across 27 countries meeting leaders, politicians, scientists, and citizens to galvanize support to Save Soil.

The Save Soil Movement is supported by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN World Food Programme, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Save Soil is a global movement to inspire a conscious approach to saving our soil and planet. This is, first and foremost, a people’s movement. The aim is to demonstrate the support of over 3.5 billion people (more than 60% of the world’s voting population) around the world and empower governments to initiate policy-driven action to revitalize the soil and halt further degradation.

World leaders, influencers, artists, experts, farmers, spiritual leaders, NGOs, and citizens are vocally supporting the movement to re-establish Humanity’s relationship with Soil.