Sadhguru interview: world-famous yogi says there are 25 years to save Britain's soil and farming industry
There are 25 years to save Britain’s soil otherwise it will eventually turn into a desert and end farming as we know it, an environmental campaigner and Indian guru has told NationalWorld.
Sadhguru, a spiritual yogi, is the leader of the Save Soil movement, an UN recognised campaign group to maintain soil quality in light of the climate crisis.
In 2022, he drove a motorcycle from the Houses of Parliament to India to raise awareness for the global soil crisis.
Healthy soil is vital for improving farmers’ yields and also protecting against flooding, Save Soil says.
On a visit to the UK, he told NationalWorld he believed there are 25 years to save the country’s soil otherwise farming could be changed for good.
“In this land, if you contaminate this soil, it will contaminate the water, it will contaminate the food you eat - there is no way out,” he said.
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“When the relationship with the land area is not very generous [like the UK] then you must be very careful with how you keep your soil.”
Sadhguru said the UK’s soil was not “in any great state”, but praised the government for expanding the use of cover crops.
“Cover crops are one of the simplest ways to put some organic quantity into the soil,” he explained.
“The summer months when it’s ploughed and left open - the destruction of organisms happens at a scale that you can’t imagine. You are trying desperately to turn green land into the desert - by ploughing it and leaving it open to the sun.”
Sadhguru said it was important to provide soil with animal waste and plant waste, but now “there are only machines roaming around” farms.
He encouraged farmers to consider tree-based agriculture, claiming that in India the healthy soil had hugely increased yields and incomes.
“If we come to our senses we can fix it otherwise we will live in a desert,” he added. “That is only possible if you keep it very organically rich, not otherwise. It doesn’t need a magic wand, it just needs a sensible approach.”
He urged Sir Keir Starmer and the Government to think of long-term policies that will protect the UK soil. It comes as research from Save Soil found that soil health plays a vital role in managing excess water and reducing flood risk across the country.
This is vital in the region, in particular with upland farmers in the Yorkshire Dales, where the ground is hugely important in absorbing rainfall and preventing flooding.
It comes after England’s wettest 18-month period on record from October 2022 to March 2024, which saw farming disrupted and harvests devastated.
The report revealed that 61 per cent of soils across Europe - including in the UK - are unhealthy, diminishing their capacity to absorb rainfall. Earlier in the year, Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced a record level of investment in flood defences, which will protect around 66,000 homes and businesses from damage.