“Bring back soil health. It is a must!”
We must go back to healthy soils. This comes from the Facebook sharing of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie; soil health was his main message during the 3rdSEALNET Meeting on 23 September 2019 at the Bureau of Soils & Water Management, Quezon City. SEALNET is the Asian Soil Laboratory Network, established in Bogor, Indonesia, in November 2017, for “the harmonization of soil laboratory methods[1].” (I can’t find anything more about the Network, except that the leadership is female; the current Chair is Gina Nilo of the Philippines.)
“Bring back soil health. It is a must!” I have never heard of any PH Secretary of Agriculture saying anything remotely related to the health of the soil as a crucial national resource. I am not surprised with Manong Willie saying that because he was from 2000 to 2014 the Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India – if you do not aim to bring back soil health to the semi-arid tropics, what kind of international science leader are you?
I know much about Manong Willie’s leadership work at the ICRISAT because he appointed me international consulting writer for the institute, and I wrote from 2007 to 2014, and ICRISAT published 7 books of mine about its aims and achievements. And so I know that, relevant in this case, for 9 years under his leadership until he retired, ICRISAT was the leading institution in the farming renaissance throughout the Indian state of Karnataka. The project was called Bhoochetana(Revival of the Soil). It reached over 26,000 villages and 4.2 million farmers; with science-backed innovations, the Indian farmers experienced 20 to 66% higher crop yields and obtained net benefits totaling US$ 453 million in 9 years[2].
And so, here was Manong Willie asking his SEALNET audience: “Why is bringing back soil health a must?” His answer was: “The soil is the foundation of the food system, and with the continuous degradation of this important resource, it will affect the entire production system.” And no, “Even if you have superior genetic materials to grow, if the soil is depleted (of plant nutrients), food productivity levels will just continue to go down.”
He called for all SEALNET member-countries “to elevate the game in rejuvenating the soil, otherwise we will not be able to optimize agriculture to feed the growing population.” The Facebook sharing does not mention if Manong Willie talked about Bhoochetana, but the experience is the source of the statement by him “that a massive soil fertility mapping must be carried out all over the Philippines as part of its efforts in revitalizing the soil.”
With 23 member countries across Southeast Asia, SEALNET “aims to calibrate and harmonize soil laboratory methods for sustainable management and protection of soil resources.” I say if those countries get their act together and carry out an Asian version of the Indian Bhoochetana, their peoples will also go from rags to riches!@517
[1] http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/5-harmonization/sealnet/en/
[2] https://www.icrisat.org/bhoochetana-an-exceptional-story-of-innovation-scale-up-in-agriculture-bringing-prosperity-to-over-4-million-farmers/
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