More than 95% of what we eat comes from soil. It takes about 500 years to form 2.5 cm of top soil under normal agricultural condition. Soil erosion and degradation has been increased dramatically by the human activities of deforestation for agriculture, overgrazing and use of agrochemicals.
50% of the planet's topsoil has been lost in the last 150 years, leading to increased pollution, flooding and desertification. Desertification itself currently affects more than 2.7 billion people
By 2050, land degradation and climate change together are predicted to reduce crop yields by an average of 10 per cent globally and up to 50 per cent in certain regions. Earthworms cannot compensate for the loss of topsoil as they too are being depleted by 80% or more from intensive agrichemical fields. Several species of worms are extinct and many others are heading that way.
Current agricultural practices have led our soils to become more acidic, pH globally has acidified by an average of 0.26 in 20 years. Meanwhile groundwater irrigation is leading to increased salinity with recent projections warning that 50% of all arable land will become impacted by salinity by 2050