4.2 Living Soil

Soil is not only physical matter which supports plants and keeps water and nutrients. It is living.

Chemical agriculture has lost this important understanding, consequently, soil degradation becomes very serious in this practice. This problem has not occurred naturally, but is created artificially through lack of knowledge of and emphasis on the soil among farmers and agriculturists. To restore the soil, it is necessary to change our idea of the soil from non-living matter to a living thing.

Living soil means that there are huge numbers of micro-organisms in the soil. The activity of micro-organisms is the deciding factor in the health and fertility of the soil. As living things need to be fed and cared for, sot the soil should be fed and cared for. The points which ensure the living soil are as follows:

1. Feed the soil through the regular supply of organic matter (Section 5.1)
2. Cover the soil in order to check erosion (Section 5.1)
3. Remove disturbing factors such as agricultural chemicals (Section 5.1)