This 11-Year-Old Public Speaker From Delhi Is Spreading The Message For Soil Conservation

In March 2022, 11-year-old Oviya Singh became one of the youngest Indians to give a TEDx Talk on the environmental issue of soil conservation and highlighted alarming facts related to the global deterioration in the quality of agricultural soil.

While speaking to The Logical Indian, Oviya emphasized Oviya the significance of organic soil content that has degraded to a mere 0.5 per cent. She highlighted that agricultural soil requires a minimum of four to six per cent of organic content to be cultivable. The reduction in the same has already degenerated the cultivation capability of 52 per cent of the global agricultural land.

Alarming Agricultural Soil Degradation

Oviya's tryst with soil is purely accidental. The environment was once given to her as a research topic for one of her elocution competitions. Through her research, she came across the massive global food crisis, which experts believe could be one of the potential causes of the next world war. While food wastage and increasing population are some factors that aggravate this potential crisis, the most alarming one is "Agricultural Soil Degradation", which impacts food cultivation on a global scale.

While talking to The Logical Indian, Oviya highlighted how soil across the world is turning into sand and the possibility of extinction of the natural resource. She said, "In the next 20 years, 40 per cent less food is expected for over 9 Billion people. Today's fruits and vegetables already have lesser nutritional value than they had back in the 1900s. A similar pace would eventually lead to malnourishment and underdevelopment amongst children".

5334 Million Tonnes Of Soil Erodes Every Year

The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning suggested that soil erosion extends to 119.2 million hectares in India. On average, soil erodes at 16.35 tonnes per hectare, that is, 5334 million tonnes per year, out of which 29 per cent is lost to the sea, 10 per cent is deposited in the reservoirs, and the remaining 61 per cent keeps shifting from one place to another. The loss of the topmost layer of the soil can lead to massive soil quality depletion and infertility, which leads to a drop in agricultural productivity.

The Logical Indian appreciates and applauds the efforts Oviya is taking to discuss soil erosion and the massive environmental hazard it could cause in the times to come.

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