Transcript:

Healthy soils: the foundation of healthy food, and a better environment.

Despite all our technological developments, humanity still relies on a few centimetres of soil to survive.

95% of our food is produced by farmers, in our soils.

It all starts in soils; where food begins.

Healthy soils provide plants with nutrients.

18 elements are essential for plant growth. Three are obtained from the atmosphere by photosynthesis, and the rest comes from the soils.

‘Soil fertility’ is the ability to provide essential nutrients and favourable chemical, physical, and biological characteristics for soil organisms, and plant growth.

When soils are degraded, and nutrients are not replenished after a harvest, they lose their capacity to nurture life.

Over the last 70 years, the level of vitamins and nutrients in food has drastically decreased.

The loss of soil fertility leads to low crop yield and crop failure. It also leads to hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

When nutrients are in excess, they spread into the environment, polluting water and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

Polluted soil puts our food chain, and the health of our planet, at risk.

What can we do?

Adopt long-term sustainable soil management practices, to enable Farmers to restore soil health.

Agricultural policies should prioritize nutritional value, and safety of food, over crop yields.

The fertilizer code should be a guiding tool to avoid the under-use, misuse, and overuse of fertilizers.

The quality of fertilizers should be of public access, and monitored by reference laboratories.

To avoid deficiencies, it is essential to include micronutrients in soil's fertilization plants.

Use of pulses, crop diversification and rotation, should be promoted.

Fertilization should be combined with innovations, such as bio-fertilization, nutrient recycling, biofortification, and bio-stimulants.

When we support farmers in bringing back life to soils, we're ensuring the future of our food, and the planet.

Vocabulary bank:

foundation - noun the basis on which something is grounded; the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new

environment - noun the area in which something exists or lives; the totality of surrounding conditions

technological - adj. based in scientific and industrial progress; of or relating to a practical subject that is organized according to scientific principles

humanity - noun the quality of being humane; all of the living human inhabitants of the earth; the quality of being human

rely - verb have confidence or faith in

nutrient - adj. of or providing nourishment; noun any substance that can be metabolized by an organism to give energy and build tissue

obtain - verb come into possession of; receive a specified treatment (abstract); be valid, applicable, or true

atmosphere - noun the mass of air surrounding the Earth; the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body; the weather or climate at some place; a particular environment or surrounding influence

photosynthesis - noun synthesis of compounds with the aid of radiant energy (especially in plants)

fertility - noun the state of being fertile; capable of producing offspring; the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth

essential - adj. basic and fundamental; absolutely required and not to be used up or sacrificed; absolutely necessary; vitally necessary

favourable - adj. favoring or bringing good luck; occurring at a convenient or suitable time; (of winds or weather) tending to promote or facilitate; encouraging or approving or pleasing

biological - adj. of parents and children; related by blood; pertaining to biology or to life and living things

organisms - noun living things, usually small, like bacteria

degrade - verb lower the grade of something; reduce its worth; reduce the level of land, as by erosion; reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

replenish - verb fill something that had previously been emptied

harvest - noun the season for gathering crops; the gathering of a ripened crop

capacity - noun a specified function; the maximum production possible;

nurture - noun helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community; the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child; verb help develop, help grow; provide with nourishment; bring up

vitamin - noun any of a group of organic substances essential in small quantities to normal metabolism

drastically - adv. in a drastic manner

decrease - noun the act of decreasing or reducing something; the amount by which something decreases; a change downward; a process of becoming smaller or shorter; verb decrease in size, extent, or range; make smaller

crop - noun the output of something in a season; a cultivated plant that is grown commercially on a large scale; the yield from plants in a single growing season

yield - noun an amount of a product; production of a certain amount

failure - noun an unexpected omission; an act that fails; an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose

malnutrition - noun a state of poor nutrition; can result from insufficient or excessive or unbalanced diet or from inability to absorb foods

poverty - noun the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions

excess - adj. more than is needed, desired, or required

pollute - verb make impure

emission - noun the act of emitting; causing to flow forth; a substance that is emitted or released

risk - noun a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury

Adopt - verb take into one's family; take up and practice as one's own

sustainable - adj. capable of being sustained

enable - verb render capable or able for some task

restore - verb give or bring back; bring back into original existence, use, function, or position; return to its original or usable and functioning condition; return to life; get or give new life or energy; restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

Agricultural - adj. relating to or used in or promoting agriculture or farming; relating to rural matters

prioritize - verb assign a priority to

fertilizer - noun any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile

misuse - noun improper or excessive use; verb change the inherent purpose or function of something; apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or incorrectly

overuse - noun exploitation to the point of diminishing returns; verb make use of too often or too extensively

laboratory - noun a workplace for the conduct of scientific research; a region resembling a laboratory inasmuch as it offers opportunities for observation and practice and experimentation

deficiency - noun lack of an adequate quantity or number; the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

pulse - noun edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or lentils etc.)

diversification - noun the act of introducing variety (especially in investments or in the variety of goods and services offered); the condition of being varied

rotation - noun the act of rotating as if on an axis; a planned recurrent sequence (of crops or personnel etc.); a single complete turn (axial or orbital); (mathematics) a transformation in which the coordinate axes are rotated by a fixed angle about the origin

promote - verb change a pawn for a king by advancing it to the eighth row, or change a checker piece for a more valuable piece by moving it the row closest to your opponent; be changed for a superior chess or checker piece; give a promotion to or assign to a higher position; contribute to the progress or growth of; make publicity for; try to sell (a product)

innovation - noun the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; a creation (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation; the creation of something in the mind

recycling - noun the act of processing used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products