PART 2 — ELIMINATING WATER POVERTY — IN CONVERSATION WITH DR. RATTAN LAL, WORLD FOOD PRIZE WINNER 2020

Dr. Rattan Lal is a distinguished university professor of Soil Science at Ohio State University, Ex-President of the International Union of Soil Sciences a global body of 60 000 scientists with headquarters in Vienna, Austria and he’s also the Ex-President of the Soil Science Society of the United States in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Lal is also the Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center. Last year in the presence of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, he received the Japan Prize in the field of “Biological Production, Ecology.” This year to top it all off, he’s the recipient of the World Food Prize for his lifelong research on the soil.

We had the honor of hosting Dr. Rattan Lal on episode 6 of the #EliminatingWaterPoverty Live Series. Dr. Lal was in conversation with Mr. Mohan Trikha, Chairman, OVBI Water, and Founding Manager, OppLane. What follows is part 2 of the transcript of the whole video. Note: The transcript has been edited to limit the words and focus on the essentials. You can catch part 1 of the transcript here.

Mohan T. — Let me move to some other areas of farming and unsustainable farming practices that have damaged the soil and we all know that also impacts the water availability. You touched upon this a little bit. Is there a way that the soil can help absorb water and charge up the aquifers, so that can bring the water table up? We are doing these things on the supply side by creating a lot of infrastructures be it check dams, recharge wells, etc. Is there a way the soil can also help?

Dr. Lal: Absolutely and we call that water in-filterability of the soil or the infiltration capacity of the soil which is determined by the porosity. It is the macropores through which the water passes and the macropores in soil surface are determined by the formation of soil structural aggregates that are stable to raindrop impact and other anthropogenic activities. That structure formation depends on a linking of organic matter which is humus carbon with the mineral fraction. We call that formation of organo-mineral complexes which will lead to high biodiversity in soil especially earthworms termites centipedes millipedes microbes; they increase the porosity. So if the soil porosity is somewhere close to 50 percent of the total volume out of which 25 percent is always pores, which are retaining air and as the rainfall happen they conduct water into the soil. So water passes through the soil and eventually permeates into the groundwater to recharge groundwater. So the best solution to reducing floods and reducing the drought is increasing the water infiltration capacity and also decreasing evaporation. Both of them depend on the soil structure so that water infiltration is high and then keep the ground always covered. The ground must never be bare. It should always be protected by either dead material crop residue or live material like a cover crop. The best solution if I can provide not only of the water, flood, and drought for regions from all the way from Western Pakistan Northwestern Region all the way to Tripura and part of Cambodia, lies in the lower Shivalik hills, which are not denuded completely by deforestation. Imagine if we were to invigorate young people by teaching them forestry, afforestation, looking after the watershed and we covered the entire Shivalik hills throughout the Indo-Ganges region and beyond, which will take a generation or so. But that is a long-term solution. We need to do the same thing in other regions, Vindhyachal and the central hills, Ooty area which is denuded. So afforestation of the watershed and covering the ground and improving soil quality and its water transmission retention is really the long-term solution.

Mohan T. — You raise an excellent point here. I was reading somewhere that in India per person the number of trees is only 28 and if you go to china it is 10x, almost 250 and the US is 400 trees per person and if you go to Canada it’s 4 000. Yeah so from 28 to getting somewhere close to some levels so that sustainability is possible, we have to literally bring back some of the agricultural lands into the forest land probably.

Dr. Lal: I visited the so-called region of china in 1978. The region was terribly degraded, the most degraded you can think of. The last valley was feeding silt into the Yangtze River and creating havoc. Since the 1980s afforestation of the lost region of China has changed the entire hydrology of the system. That exactly what India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and other countries including Afghanistan need to do. The re-forestation of the Himalayas, that is where the solution lies and that is where the cooperation should happen amongst neighboring countries.

Mohan T. — Yes. Very well said. Let me move to a question about crops. Are there specific agriculture crops where soil conservation methods are more applicable? Can we use this method for all types of crops or you know they are sort of recommended in a specific way?

Dr. Lal — This question has been asked to me since the 70s and the answer is it’s not important what we grow. What’s important is how we grow it. So crops whether it’s corn, whether it’s rice, whether it’s soybean, even potatoes, and salt and yam, which are root crops and other vegetables like radish and carrots extract, can also be grown by the same method. Because the best way to plow the land is through bioturbation. Bioturbation is when the earthworm, termites, centipedes, microorganisms, and the other soil animal are churning up. In fact, Darwin who is known for the original species, his very first book was on earthworms. He called them intestines of the earth because they were the ones turning up the grounds. So they’re important if we manage soil properly, soil porosity and macro-pores and bulk density would be improved in a way that mechanical tillage is no substitute. In fact, we do mechanical tillage because we have compacted the ground deliberately through improper management, by taking away the crop residue after burning it and then uncontrolled grazing which is completely against the normal systems of soil health management. So no, it is not any crop-specific. It is really a technology that can be done for all crops if we manage the soil resources properly.

Mohan T.: So these natural earthworms and those microorganisms which are helping the ground, are they not impacted by the fertilizers?

Dr. Lal: They are absolutely affected. Pesticides and waters and flooding all affect them. When a flood happens, these animals cannot breathe of course and you can see sometimes in spring, even in Ohio, when it rains earthworms are all out of their burrows and in the streets. So, the soil is a living entity. Just because you have a piece of paper that says you own it, doesn’t mean you can do anything with it. 25 percent of all biodiversity of the world is in the topsoil. The topsoil is more diverse in biodiversity than the entire amazon put together. So, when we treat the soil, when we plow it when we dump the chemical when we flood it, we put the pesticide, if we hear properly if we understand the language of nature and the animal in the soil, you can hear them crying. Don’t do it but understand the language and this is what education means. We should have an education of nature and natural management, right from primary school and that is really what is required. Yes, the soil is a living entity. It has rights and it cannot be abused, it cannot be misused, it must be treated, it must flourish, it must be restored, it must be left in a better condition for the next generation than what we inherited. It is about time that we have a soil protection act. There is a trinity of elements in nature: soil water and air. They all must be protected. It’s impossible to have clean water and clean air without having healthy fertile productive soil.

Mohan T. — Talking about this, may I ask you a question related to ancient Indian culture that you must be very familiar with. The theory that nature and all life is made of five elements that’s what our shastras (Scripts) say: earth, water, air, fire, and this space. Given your lifetime of work in some of these areas, do you believe in this ancient wisdom, and can you scientifically comment on it?

Dr. Lal: I think it does not matter what religion you belong to. In fact, I strongly believe rather than talking about the differences amongst the religion, we should talk about the commonalities among religions. That really will take care of many of the issues that come up many times.

Prasanna Upanishad, it says very vividly,” Those five elements of that one that human body is made of do not desecrate them.” Gurbani says the best,” Water is the father; the greatest of them is mother earth.” Quran says,” Do not waste water even if you live on a river.” Does not matter what religion you believe in, they all talk about stewardship of natural resources. I am really fascinated, I am very impressed, I salute Pope Francis. He talks about protecting and saving nature. I think we must think about how we live in symbiosis and harmony with nature, and not conquering nature. The future of humanity and the future of the planet lies in our willingness and our ability, in our dedication and commitment to protecting the soil. We must use it, and not abuse it. We must use it in a way that its productive capacity and ecosystem functional capacity is enhanced and sustained. For generations and nations to come and our Shastra, our Purana says that and we must go back to our religious route and it does not matter what religion. They all have that thing in common. We must look at commonalities amongst our religion that will bind us together and this is the protection of natural resources. Stewardship is a common goal of all the faith of the nation and back to nature.

Mohan T.: You’ve seen some of the work that we are doing in India in terms of bringing back that balance about the use of water. Can you recommend two or three things that we at OVBI, should do to moving India out from a water poverty situation where half the country is suffering from a shortage and the other half is suffering from floods?

Dr. Lal: First of all let me commend you. What you are doing is a noble cause. You mentioned 500 villages already being served and that you have planned to do 5 000 in two years. That’s a good plan. Yes, there are many things. Number one: involve farmers and land manager in the decision making. It should be a participatory grassroots, bottom-up approach. They should own this activity that you are promoting. They should feel it is their goal, their mission. So somewhere discussion with them is very critical.

Secondly, we should do everything we can to enhance the respectability of the farming profession, so that they are not considered as not important. In fact, if they are not important soil is not important. Nature is not important. They are the biggest steward of soil and nature and water. So their respectability is very important. We must listen to their views. They are the ones who do this daily. We must ask them what is it that you would like us to do for you. That’s a very important part so that they know that we are there to serve them and that is important. We should talk to local policymakers at the local level that we should encourage farmers, incentivize them. Sustainable development goal number one is end poverty, number two end hunger. Well, ending poverty and ending hunger in India is only possible, if the farmers, their income, if their resources, if their well-being is improved and I think you can do all that. Finally, I think we must involve even the religious communities, in promoting the stewardship of natural resources. I would also strongly recommend education especially women, especially girls. They are the one who is going to make a difference

Mohan T.: You are a true Ratan or jewel of India. Thank you for sharing your experience, insights, and vision today. We hope this session has been insightful and motivational for you for joining us.

That’s the end of the transcript. You can watch the whole episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDF_eEgS6IY&t=4s