The fate of humanity depends on many factors, and primarily on the availability of food. Without it, all other material values lose their meaning. Currently, up to 500 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger, and up to 1 billion are undernourished, with these numbers continuing to grow. A European, over the course of a lifetime (around 70 years), consumes up to 45 tons of food, with 95% of it being provided by Earth’s soil.
The significance of soil as a natural entity lies in its role in sustaining life on Earth: soil is both a result of life and a condition for its existence. It regulates the chemical composition of air and water, absorbs rainfall, forms the balance of freshwater, and adsorbs dissolved and other impurities.
Soil formation results from large geological and small biological cycles of matter. V.V. Dokuchaev and other scientists defined soil as a natural-historical entity with its own intra-soil connections, patterns, and conditions of development—an open, self-regulating system created by the interaction of six factors: climate, parent material, terrain, living organisms, geological age of the territory, and human activity.
For millennia, humanity engaged in natural organic land use, living in harmony with the planet’s biocenosis. However, with the invention of the plow and chemical fertilizers, humans began to disrupt the processes of soil self-preservation and self-restoration, and its self-regulation mechanisms.
Modern intensive agriculture is largely based on the use of large amounts of chemical fertilizers and toxic substances (pesticides, herbicides, defoliants), intended to combat insects, weeds, and pests. In addition to poisoning the soil and groundwater with chemicals, intensive land use leads to the rapid depletion of fertile topsoil due to the widespread use of plows, which gained popularity at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
Up until the 19th century, the land was cultivated using a “soha” (a primitive plow). What is the difference between a soha and a plow? The plow turns the topsoil, exposing anaerobic microorganisms that live below the surface and care for the soil to air and sunlight, causing them to die, while aerobic organisms that thrive on the surface are buried and die from lack of light and air.
Anaerobic bacteria thrive in environments devoid of free oxygen. They obtain resources for growth through the decomposition of organic waste, breaking it down into methane gas, water, and solid residue. Anaerobic bacteria die when exposed to air.
On the other hand, aerobic microorganisms can only exist in the top layers of soil, where there is sufficient oxygen, as their main function is to oxidize organic compounds, releasing heat and carbon dioxide.
In its natural state, soil is permeated by plant roots, earthworm tunnels, and other organisms, making it porous and breathable. Deep plowing, however, destroys these channels, impairing the soil’s ability to absorb and retain moisture. In its natural, undisturbed form, soil is a living system, a habitat for nano- and microflora and fauna, which contribute to its natural fertility.
Soil fertility can be either artificial (mineral, chemical) or natural, biological. Natural, limitless fertility is created by decaying plant matter (hay, grass, straw, fallen leaves and branches, sawdust), the remains of microorganisms and animals (bacteria, algae, fungi, worms, insects, and other organisms), and nano- and microplants (algae). These animal microorganisms are integral to fertile soil, invisible to the naked eye, and collectively known as “soil-forming microflora and microfauna.” A handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that maintain fertility.
Soil-forming microbiocenosis is the key component of the biological processes that create the limitless, natural fertility of soil. The living part of soil accounts for up to 80% (!) of its mass. Only 20% of soil mass is its inert, mineral part. When the living part of the soil is destroyed by the use of chemical fertilizers or other disruptions to a healthy biocenosis, the soil gradually degrades to its mineral foundation, becoming dead, infertile, and barren. Restoring the fertility of depleted soils is a complex and labor-intensive process.
Soil is the skin of the Earth. Modern scientists identify five layers of human skin. Similarly, they note that living, infinitely fertile soil consists of five interdependent layers.
The first soil layer, the natural turf or mulch layer, consists of decaying plant and animal remains: last year’s grass, straw left after harvest, fallen leaves and branches, various microorganisms, fungi, mold, and dead insects and animals. Beneath the mulch layer is a habitat for earthworms, beetles, and other small creatures. The number of microorganisms in fertile soil can reach several tons per hectare of land. This entire living community moves, consumes, excretes, reproduces, and dies.
The remains of these soil organisms decompose into their primary biogas and biomineral components. All animal bodies consist of nitrogen compounds. Upon decomposition, they turn into natural nitrogen fertilizers, which are now artificially replaced by chemical nitrogen fertilizers in dead soil.
The second soil layer is biocompost, located beneath the mulch. Biocompost consists of the waste products (excretions) of various microorganisms and insects. In fertile soils, the biocompost layer can be 20 cm or more thick. It serves as “colostrum” for plants, essential in the early stages of growth for their healthy development. Seeds planted in depleted, eroded soil lack this vital nourishment, growing weak and stunted.
The third layer, the biomineral layer, is made up of organic and biocompost remains. This layer takes years to form and provides plants with nutrients from the decomposition of organic material into elemental forms, making them readily absorbable by plant roots.
The fourth layer is humus, which accounts for 4-9% of fertile soils. Formed by microorganisms, humus serves as an energy source for plants and plays a crucial role in warming plants in colder climates.
The fifth layer, subsoil clay, regulates moisture and gas exchange in the lower layers, ensuring the soil’s health and stability.
Thus, soil, like the skin, is a complex biosystem in which the upper layer protects the lower layers from erosion. Turning or plowing soil with a moldboard plow destroys the life within it, but most alarmingly, it exposes the soil to air and water erosion—blowing and washing away the invaluable fertile layer of soil that has taken hundreds of years to form. The average thickness of this fertile layer on Earth is only about half a meter. In most parts of the world, the fertile layer varies from just a few centimeters to 20 centimeters, and only in some areas does it reach two or three meters.
According to scientific estimates, water can wash away an 18 cm layer of soil in:
– **500,000 years in a forest**;
– **3,225 years on a meadow**;
– **Only 15 years where there are no plants**.
The destructive impact of intensive agriculture on the land has far exceeded anything seen in the previous millennia. Over the last century, more than 2 billion hectares of arable land have been rendered unusable due to soil erosion and depletion.
Every year, approximately **24–25 billion tons** of topsoil are lost globally due to erosion, equivalent to all the wheat fields in Australia. Farmland, forests, and pastures are disappearing. Arid lands already cover more than a third of the Earth’s surface, and each year, due to declining groundwater levels and wind erosion, an additional **23 million hectares of fields and steppes** in Africa, India, China, the USA, and Russia are turning into desert.
The rapid depletion of soils, combined with the need to provide adequate nutrition for a growing population, presents humanity with serious challenges. Only **12% of the Earth’s surface** is currently used for growing crops, **24%** is used for pastures, and **31%** is covered by forests. The remaining **33%** is too cold, too dry, or too steep to be used for agriculture. Moreover, many of the soils already under cultivation are severely depleted or dead.
In many regions, the rate of soil loss exceeds the rate of new soil formation by at least 10 times! One of the main reasons for this is the use of moldboard plows. Edward H. Faulkner wrote extensively about this in his book “Plowman’s Folly.” But even before him, the renowned Russian agronomist Ivan Yevgenyevich Ovsinsky claimed that all the cannons on this planet have caused humanity less harm than the plow designed by the German blacksmith Sax (the inventor of the moldboard plow).
The initial surge in crop yields from using moldboard plows is due to the increased decomposition of humus into inorganic substances, which temporarily boosts plant nutrition. However, this disrupts the natural life of the soil and drastically reduces the formation of new humus.
The early euphoria over moldboard plowing, which led to unprecedented yields, blinded farmers to the long-term consequences. Farmers have been almost subconsciously convinced that plowing helps retain moisture and improves soil quality—when, in reality, it is killing the soil.
Rapid soil depletion and erosion, resulting from the destruction of the soil’s natural processes, led to the introduction of chemical fertilizers. In the 1850s, the talented German chemist **Justus von Liebig** discovered that plants could be grown and nourished to produce good yields using solutions of certain chemical elements. These became known as **mineral fertilizers**. The chemical components used in these fertilizers closely matched the waste products from the production of explosives and gunpowder.
Liebig’s discovery was a windfall for chemical magnates and arms manufacturers, who realized they could sell their waste products to farmers, generating enormous profits. This corporate interest, aligned with governments, chemical giants, and weapons manufacturers, resulted in widespread advertising campaigns promoting the benefits and economic efficiency of mineral fertilizers for farmers.
Since mineral fertilizers need to be applied deep into the soil, the moldboard plow was widely promoted, and tractors were offered as the preferred tool for pulling these plows. Both plows and tractors were produced by defense industry enterprises, further aligning corporate interests in selling fertilizers, plows, and tractors to farmers.
The use of mineral fertilizers, plows, and tractors seemed easier to farmers than using manure or compost, and these methods quickly gained popularity in Germany and later in other countries. The market for waste from explosives and gunpowder production expanded rapidly, as did corporate profits.
Justus von Liebig, being an honest scientist, later realized that mineral fertilizers, when applied to soil, destroyed its life, made it dense, cold, and impermeable to water and air, and deprived it of natural fertility. He began actively protesting against the use of mineral fertilizers, apologizing for his mistake and advocating for the Chinese farming system, which replenished soil fertility using organic waste from human activities.
However, Liebig’s protest went unheard. The corporate interests worked hard to ensure that farmers remained unaware of the consequences—too much profit would be lost if farmers abandoned plows, tractors, and chemical fertilizers. Liebig’s protest was effectively silenced, and mineral fertilizers found their way onto the fields of the Earth.
Initially, plowed land retained a crumbly structure, and wheat yields were high. But within a few years, moldboard plowing, combined with disc harrows and other tools, led to wind erosion of the soil. Soil that is plowed is only protected by crop roots for 3-4 months of the year, leaving it exposed to the elements for the rest of the time. Where fields are left fallow, erosion worsens due to repeated summer treatments with disc plows.
Burning straw and stubble on fields exacerbates the problem, killing microorganisms and insects in the topsoil. With the roots and stubble burned away, erosion can set in even without plowing.
Wind erosion alone can remove 450-980 kg of nitrogen, 100-190 kg of phosphorus, 3.5 tons of potassium, and more than 15 tons of organic matter per hectare from a 2.5 cm layer of soil, rendering the land infertile. This erosion is particularly severe on fields without forest shelter belts.
Instead of questioning the plow, farmers sought ways to preserve soil fertility by improving crop rotations, increasing organic and mineral fertilizers, and introducing irrigation. Yet, despite these efforts, the situation continues to deteriorate. As humus content declines, the physical properties of soil worsen, and fertility drops.
In his article *”On the Present and Future of Our Soils”* (Journal of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 1994), academician **I.G. Kalinenko** provides alarming data on the decline of humus content in the soil of the Zernograd Selection Center (Rostov region).

Academician Kalinenko emphasizes that despite the strict adherence to scientifically-based agricultural systems (crop rotation, plowing 40-50 tons of manure and 3-4 centners of superphosphate per hectare of fallow land), the humus content in the soil of this region has halved in 50 years and has decreased by threefold in 110 years. In other regions where manure was not applied at all, the situation is even worse: the unique rich chernozems, which once had a humus content of 14–16% and were known as the citadel of Russian agriculture, have disappeared. The areas of the most fertile land on the planet, with a humus content of 10–13%, have decreased fivefold in Russia.
Thus, by using the plow, modern agriculture has destroyed in 100 years what our ancestors preserved for millennia. Over the last century, large swaths of Russian land with two-meter-thick layers of chernozem have been depleted, destroyed, and are now incapable of yielding crops without the use of chemicals and mineral fertilizers.
Chemical fertilizers provide less than half of the necessary elements for plants, with over 50% of the substances in these fertilizers acting as harmful ballast, which is also absorbed by plants and, when ingested by humans, harms health. For this reason, in some countries today, agricultural products grown using chemical fertilizers are banned from sale on the domestic market to preserve public health. Such products are grown solely for export.
The destruction of soils is a crime against future generations, as it deprives humanity of the main factor for sustainable development—fertile land, which is the foundation of life.
Long-term land-use experience shows that after 50-70 years of agricultural land use without sufficient organic fertilizers, humus is reduced by 30-50%. Restoring the humus content in soils artificially, through land use, is extremely difficult. The natural creation of 1 cm of humus takes 100-150 years. Dehumification is accompanied by sterilization, structural breakdown, nutrient loss, erosion, and other damaging processes. The main cause of humus loss in soils, as noted earlier, is the lack of organic fertilizers and the over-mineralization of soils.
Today, pesticide contamination is the most pressing soil pollution issue, followed by heavy metal contamination. Pesticides—including insecticides, biocides for pest control, herbicides for weed control, and fungicides for disease control—are all toxic chemicals. The need for pesticides in crop, horticultural, and viticultural production arose due to the disruption of agricultural techniques in all types of agricultural crops.
According to geneticist and biologist Dr. A.M. Burdun, in the past 20 years, agriculture has been focused on intensification, concentration, and specialization: vast fields are sown with a single crop. Concentrating one species over large areas, or one breed on one farm, planting a single variety of grapes on dozens or even hundreds of hectares creates genetically homogeneous material, which not only exhausts the soil but also leads to the development of pests and diseases. Chemical attacks using mineral fertilizers on soil depleted by monoculture do little to improve fertility and instead accelerate the evolution of harmful organisms. More importantly, this leads to global contamination of the human environment.
Soil protection from pollution can only be achieved through the development of environmentally friendly agricultural technologies. Partial solutions include the use of specialized equipment for applying pesticides, the organization of centralized, independent state plant protection services that control pesticide application, certification of pesticides used and imported, properly equipped storage facilities, and monitoring services to ensure the safe disposal of expired or unused pesticides.
In addition to nutrients and plant protection methods, irrigation practices—comprising more than 40 measures to increase crop yields and maintain soil fertility—are limiting factors. The primary factor in such practices is regulating the soil’s water regime.
This factor is manageable, as humanity has been regulating the soil’s water balance through irrigation and drainage for millennia. When sufficient nutrients are available, 1 centner of grain requires approximately 10 mm of accessible water. Proper irrigation cultivates the soil, eliminates moisture deficits, reduces wind erosion, lowers plowing resistance, activates microbiological processes, and can help accumulate humus, including through silt deposits.
However, when irrigation systems are improperly constructed or maintained, or when their designs are flawed, adverse effects such as secondary salinization, humus loss, waterlogging, soil sodification, compaction, irrigation erosion, and other processes can occur, leading to soil degradation. Often, the negative impacts of irrigation far outweigh its benefits.
Global surface water contamination with heavy metals is an indirect cause of soil mineralization by mercury, lead, cadmium, iron, copper, and other substances. Sources of soil contamination with heavy metals include industrial wastewater, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, numerous industrial and household waste disposal sites, mineral fertilizers, and chemical plant protection agents.
The process of soil and arable land erosion began when humans first started practicing agriculture. Intensive water erosion started when humans began irrigation practices, carved the first furrow, and the runoff from rain or melting snow began to flow through it. The main causes of water erosion include climate factors (such as the nature of the snow cover, rainfall patterns, and temperature regimes), landforms (slope shapes and orientations, watershed sizes and shapes), parent rock types, soil types and structure, vegetation cover and type, and human activities.
The primary measure to combat water erosion is to retain meltwater and convert surface runoff into groundwater. The erosive power of rainfall depends on the quantity and intensity of precipitation. The most effective methods of soil protection include the planting of perennial grasses, continuous vegetation cover, and crop rotation systems that protect the soil in various ways.
Analysis of the causes of wind erosion indicates that soil protection should involve the following measures: creating windbreak barriers such as forest belts, shelterbelts of tall-stemmed plants, growing crops with sufficient development to withstand windy periods, preserving stubble on the soil surface, incorporating chopped plant residues into the topsoil, mulching vulnerable areas with manure, and employing various agrotechnical techniques.
Industrial activity poses an increasing threat to soil cover. Industrial erosion is most pronounced in areas with mineral deposits and construction materials, especially when extracted via open-pit mining, in ash dumps from thermal power stations, waste rock dumps from various mines, and coal waste heaps. The total global anthropogenic impact on soil cover has already become comparable to the effects of natural factors. Soil degradation is largely due to the absence of reliable soil monitoring both in Russia and globally.
The most critical task is the organization of soil monitoring in the following areas:
1-Assessing average annual soil loss rates due to wind, rain, and industrial erosion;
2-Identifying regions and territories with nutrient balance deficits, and assessing humus, nitrogen, and phosphorus loss rates;
3– Monitoring changes in soil acidity and alkalinity;
4- Monitoring soil contamination with heavy metals;
5- Monitoring soil contamination with pesticides;
6– Monitoring soil contamination with petroleum products and hydrocarbons;
7-Long-term and seasonal monitoring of soil moisture, temperature, structural condition, water-physical properties, and nutrient content;
8-Monitoring changes in salt composition and salinity in irrigated and fertilized lands;
9– Conducting expert assessments of potential changes in soil properties when designing hydrotechnical structures, implementing land reclamation, or introducing new farming systems, fertilizers, and chemical plant protection products;
10– Inspecting and controlling the scale and proper conversion of arable land for non-agricultural use.
The speed at which modern society becomes aware of the depth of this problem will determine whether humanity continues to exist on Earth. At present, humanity is only beginning to calculate the incomplete consequences of the destruction of agriculture and nature—primarily the social consequences, which reflect the moral and ethical decline of contemporary humans. Millions of hectares of agricultural land that have lost or diminished their fertility are all links in the same chain, the result of replacing moral values with consumerist ones.
The destruction of soils in any region leads to the tragedy of its inhabitants: without fertile land, without clean water and air, humanity cannot survive!
The outcome of our efforts should be the creation of widespread public and political awareness, resulting in the primary ecological agenda of all political and economic forums focusing not on killing cows or reducing the human population due to methane and carbon dioxide emissions from cows and humans, but on preserving the fertility of existing agricultural lands and restoring the lost fertile soil of the planet.
The use of all methods of land cultivation that destroy life in the soil must be prohibited at both the international and national levels. The destruction of the Earth’s fertile layer is, in essence, a crime against the future generations who will live here after us.
We must create and promote new business sectors based on organic methods of land cultivation. We must restore the planet’s fertile soil by creating forests and green frameworks in regions that have today been turned into barren, depleted lands, deserts, and semi-deserts.
Today, we must take responsibility for the condition of the planet’s fertile layer. We must take responsibility for future generations and for preserving the beautiful, flourishing garden we call planet Earth. If this remarkable garden was created by the will of God, then God’s will within our hearts shows us the paths and solutions that do not destroy the planet but instead preserve its divine beauty.
—Alexander Yevgenyevich Usanin, Eduard Gennadyevich Ponomaryov.