Fwd: The Radical Hope of Soil Conservation
Rosamma Thomas
From: Smita Ramanathan <ramanath...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Subject: Fwd: The Radical Hope of Soil Conservation
To: Rosamma Thomas <rosa...@gmail.com>
From: Prof RR from Prof RR <pro...@substack.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Subject: The Radical Hope of Soil Conservation
To: <ramanath...@gmail.com>
HOPE IN THESE TIMES The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) estimates that some 3.6 million hectares (about 8.9 million acres) of cropland are abandoned by farmers every year. There are many reasons why a farmer might abandon cropland, but FAO strongly suspects that soil degradation is a leading cause—the land is used up to the point where it can no longer sustain healthy, marketable crops. UN FAO also fears that this land degradation crisis is getting worse due to climate change, possibly fuelling deforestation as desperate farmers clear trees to keep up with lost soil fertility. The NGO Land Gardeners in the UK are sharing the wonder of soil through research, education, and art. They are looking for solutions for farmers and growers to heal our soils. Founded in 2012 by Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld, the Land Gardeners’ mission is to educate, inspire, and empower people to make change: Healing our soils, healing our plants, healing our planet. Land Gardeners have created a World Map of Soil Heroes, which highlights inspiring people and projects around the world, who are involved in radical solutions to heal and nourish our soils. The website describes over 140 soil conservation projects, a worldwide network of communities healing the soil and reweaving relationships between people and land. Examples of Soil Conservation New Zealand: On a 200-acre mixed farm in New Zealand, Jenny Yates and Steve Erickson are exploring quantum-based agriculture (QBA). This approach has its roots in many ancient farming traditions and shares ideas with practices found in biodynamics, homeopathy, electroculture and radionics. While conventional approaches emphasise physical components such as soil chemistry, plant genetics and biological agents, QBA extends beyond the particle-focused framework of conventional agriculture, drawing on concepts from quantum physics and quantum biology, which consider both particle and wave behaviours. Its advocates suggest that, just as quantum principles already underpin everyday technologies such as lasers, MRI scanners and digital electronics, they can also offer insights into living agricultural systems. QBA focuses on the energetic circuitry of soil and plants, proposing that beyond positive and negative mineral charges, soils and organisms express complex vibrational interactions. Jenny and Steve are demonstrating that working with these complexities can benefit the soil and plants. Their ‘Cyclone Sprayer’ vortexes plant extracts, biodynamic preparations and compost teas before they are applied across their land, creating a simple, living food for soils and plants. Canada: Owen Goltz and Susan Graham are bringing hope to their local community at Riverdale Farm, where they grow nutrient-dense medicinal plants. Owen is researching food production through the lens of metabolomics – the study of metabolic compounds in the food we grow and eat, and how these interact with the human body. His aim is what he calls “precision food for precision medicine”, and he believes that “it is not the nutrients in the plant that we need to measure; it is the metabolites produced.” Garlic, for example, contains around 1,750 different metabolites, and Owen is researching how changes in soil management and crop care can alter their composition with a view to supporting human health. Humans themselves have about 35,000 metabolites, which can act as markers for current, future and past health issues. Australia: Di and Ian Haggerty are working at scale to rebuild soil fertility across 60,000 acres of farmland. Using Johnson-Su compost, a fungal-rich, biologically active compost developed by David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su, and with more than 30 compost shuttles currently in operation, alongside vermicast and carefully managed grazing by animals, they have moved away from conventional chemical farming. For the past 18 years they have relied instead on what they call Natural Intelligence Farming. Their focus is on increasing the diversity and complexity of their “below-ground stock” by sowing seeds alongside biological liquids and applying foliar sprays during plant growth. Vast tracts of semi-arid land are being turned around. Di says, “Stop thinking and start connecting through the heart.” Zimbabwe: Participants in the Chikukwa Project are restoring degraded land through farmer-to-farmer collaboration, using permaculture principles. By constructing low rock walls and swales to capture and slow water flow, and planting a diversity of species supported by compost, they are reviving the soil and bringing abundance to previously barren lands. Peru: Indigenous Andean farmers are being supported by entrepreneur Sarela Herrada to transition to organic farming, creating better returns for crops such as quinoa. Herrada takes care of every step: collecting produce from farms, processing and packaging the food, handling the paperwork and organising through cooperatives. These initiatives are improving soil health, animal welfare and social fairness. India: The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems supports community groups and farmer producer companies in Tamil Nadu, drawing on Indigenous Ayurvedic knowledge to feed and heal the soil. The ancient science of Vrikshayurveda – plant medicine – understands soil as our mother, and plants as kin. Tending the land is as much a matter of spirit and culture as it is of yield and profit. South Africa: The Thicket Restoration in South Africa which aims to restore 800,000 hectares of thicket by 2030, crucially bringing together over 60 initiatives to make the soil more resilient, store carbon (up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 annually) and act as a food source and habitat for wildlife. Costa Rica: Buena Vida Specialty Coffee was founded in 2019 by Gally Mayer, driven by search to find exceptional coffee. This search led to conviction that coffee could—and should—work differently. They started as many do—sourcing organic specialty coffee from Costa Rica’s top farms, believing “organic” to be the gold standard. But working directly with farmers opened their eyes. Most “organic” coffee still depletes soil, ships in plastic, and makes vague impact claims. Regenerative certification demands proof—of soil health, ecosystem balance, and farmer prosperity. They saw how the organic certification process placed heavy financial burdens on producers, while the standards themselves allowed practices like tilling that actually degrade soil health. Their mission now is to empower Latin American specialty coffee farms through regenerative agriculture, collaboration, and education—securing the future of coffee itself, which is threatened by climate change and lack of farmer prosperity. To find out more, visit www.worldmapofsoilheroes.com Afterword: This post is completely based on the article “The radical hope of soil” by Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld in the magazine Resurgence & Ecologist, Issue 355, March/April 2026. This issue of the magazine has the theme “Hope as a radical act” As the Resurgence editor puts it, “We first have to look clearly at the now: a time of ecological collapse; war and genocide; technologies dependent on relentless extraction; and massive inequality. If we wish to save what is still beautiful in this world, we must not lose hope. But where can we look for hope today, and how radical an act is hope itself? The themed section of this issue offers four responses to those questions.” Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy are garden designers and soil enthusiasts. They say, ”Perhaps the most radical idea of all is that each of us has the power to make a difference, through the choices we make and the producers we support, by standing alongside those who are caring for the living soils beneath our feet.” Note of caution: The creators of the World Map of Soil Heroes may not have verified the authenticity of each project. If a project intrests you, access the relevant website and get more information. Prof RR is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Prof RR that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.
© 2026 Raghavachari Rajagopalan
|
