World Soil Day - Can You Dig It?

On the 5 December every year the world celebrates World Soil Day as a way to bring attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources. The date was selected by the United Nations (UN) because it was the birthday of the King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, one of the greatest proponents of the World Soil Day initiative.

It may sound dry and boring, but healthy soil with a rich biodiversity is key for human survival and development. Most of the world’s biodiversity, over two million species, lives in the soil – mega-, macro-, meso- and micro organisms, of which only about 1% have been identified so far. All these organisms play a key role in the food chain of life on the planet, including our own as humans. When the harmony and balance in soil is disturbed and put out of sync, the fertility of the soil and the whole food chain is at risk – both in natural and in agricultural systems.

As human population has grown with the rise of modern societies and technological revolutions, the impact we have had on the environment has been increasingly adverse, including negative impacts on the soil necessary for the survival of the planet and human life. Due to deforestation, intensive agriculture, unsustainable tillage, mono-cropping, the introduction and overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and pollution, soil health is at great risk as soil erosion, desertification and soil degradation takes place.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), is this year focusing on addressing the serious and increasing challenges to soil management through the campaign ‘Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity’.  The aim is to raise awareness and to get people around the world to contribute to fight soil biodiversity loss and actively promote a soil health. “If we do not act soon, the fertility of soil will continue to be adversely affected at an alarming rate, threatening global food supplies and food safety” (FAO). Moreover, except for food, the organisms in the soil carries out and contribute to many essential common goods and ecosystem services, for example, water and air purification, storing carbon and breaking down toxins, and being a great resource for present day and future pharmaceuticals.

At TISB we learn about and care about the soil health and biodiversity, both inside and outside of the classroom. One example of this is the Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP), a TISB student-led After School Club. The club started as a way to offer opportunities to students outside of the curriculum and follow their passions for the environment. The club has grown significantly since forming in 2019, and has established roots in 14 different schools in four different countries (India, Singapore, Qatar and Thailand), and started collaborating with organisations, such as SWMRT, Daily Dump, Whitefield Ready and Rotary Club Indiranagar. “One of the most significant and long-term projects that LEAP has executed is the sustainable farm, where a team of 20 students composted 50+ kilograms of food waste from the cafeteria weekly”, says Aditya, one of the Grade 12 students behind the initiative. Soil health and organic agriculture has been at the core of the club since the start, which has also resulted in a Soil Testing Kit project, and the inter-school GreenWorks events – an awareness campaign that hosts upcycling and composting challenges for Grade 3-12 students across schools in Bangalore.

On TISB’s campus the foundation of an Organic and Sustainable Farm has been established during the academic year 2019-2020. It is an ongoing experiment and an outdoors laboratory; and a place for students, from Primary Years to Senior School, to actively learn about soil, plants, gardening and agriculture by practically engaging in the field, and at the same time contributing to the TISB Eco-Schools Initiative. Although plans for the farm were halted by the global pandemic and the physical closure of school, we are excited about continuing the work and once again inviting students to take part of the learning, and making changes to our planet’s soil health and biodiversity.

In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about soil health and soil management, go to FAO’s World Soil Day website, or click this FAO map to find out where there might be a World Soil Day Event near you.