Soils for Life!

         By: Celine Gonzales

        Most plants can’t survive without soil, and people can’t survive without plants. Ever since man learned to cultivate, soil has been considered as a source of food for humanity. The world has to almost double its sustainable food production by 2050 to meet a projected population increase from 7 billion to perhaps 10 billion, and it has to do this when the globe is losing around 1 percent of its arable land annually. Soils are becoming less fertile through run-down of nutrients and carbon, eroded through overgrazing and ground cover removal, and wildfires are burning the equivalent of the continent of India every year. These are indeed very serious and complex challenges. But what I am excited about is that we can equip ourselves to better deal with these impending challenges. By managing our soil, water, vegetation and biodiversity in an integrated way – in our vast agricultural landscapes and even in our own backyards – we can reverse land degradation and support sustainable production. Fundamentally, we need to ensure that our soils have a healthy structural, mineral and biological balance. And based from our discussion, I learned that one important step in achieving this is to increase the amount of organic matter and carbon in the soil. The carbon content of soil is one of the key indicators of its health and is a master variable that controls numerous processes. It is the carbon content of soil that largely governs its capacity to absorb, retain and supply moisture within the soil. We need to think about and make conscious decisions with what we eat. Growing our own food or buying it from farmer’s markets or non-industrial sources provides the practical means by which much of the community can ensure they are once again eating healthy food from healthy soil. A healthily functioning plant - without other external inputs - is the best indicator of a healthy soil. Soils are diverse, with many types and capacities, hence soil health means different things in different places. Soils change over time. Resistance and resilience vary, but can be improved. However soils have thresholds, complete regeneration may not always be possible. Soils are part of the environment – the climate and vegetation shape the soil and its properties as much as the rock it forms on and the management it has endured.

            As a future Social Studies teacher, it is a challenge for me how to teach soil in a very interesting and creative way. I must also consider the interest of the students which I think is more on devices. I know the topic is easy but it is hard to teach. I also realized that the simpler the topic is, the more it is hard to teach because out of that simple things, you as a teacher should come up with a deeper understanding and teaching of the lesson. I should also look for ways on how I will integrate the lesson to the real life situation. One thing to discuss it is I think through the discussion about the drought and hunger in Africa. Despite the geopolitical, economic and social factors that lead to poverty globally, soil is still the source of our food. Adequate and sustainable land management enable production of food and other goods in the long term.