It is incredible how almost all of life on Earth is anchored to the less than a feet thin top layer of the soil. The topsoil is home to most of the microorganisms, and large amounts of organic matter. It is where most of the action happens which makes life on Earth possible. For centuries, agriculture and food production had been based on the principle of healthy soils producing healthy plants. The inception of industrial and chemical-based agriculture saw soil being stripped of its microorganisms and nutrients and becoming overloaded with chemicals, leading to a loss in soil fertility.

In the last 150 years, the Earth has lost over half of its topsoil due to intensive chemical-based agriculture and other reasons. A staggering 24 billion tonnes of fertile or 12 million hectares topsoil are lost along with 27,000 bio species every year. Once lost, regenerating the topsoil, would take many years, and experts warn of the end of agriculture if we continue at the current rate. Without healthy and alive topsoil, the Earth’s capacity to sequester carbon, filter water, improve pollinator habitat and produce food would go plummeting down making it a matter of grave concern as it would directly impact food and water security.

Prolonged land degradation which eventually leads to desertification, has in the past led to the collapse of major civilizations, including the Harappan civilization. According to the Assessment on Land degradation and Restoration report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (IPBES), “Currently, degradation of the Earth’s land surface through human activities is negatively impacting the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, pushing the planet towards a sixth mass species extinction, and costing more than 10 per cent of the annual global gross product in loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.”

At Newearth, we focus on regenerative topsoil technologies that have carbon sequestration capabilities to power community and municipality initiatives.

We work with industries who need to manage their organic waste by combining it with horticultural waste and fermenting it with advance microbiological applications. The resulting material is an organic topsoil where biological reactions inthe formation of humus have already begun. This rich pre-fostered topsoil is high in humic materials and microbiological activity.