19 of compaction caused by the transit of heavy vehicles on the ground, and we know how much it costs, in terms of CO2, to convert a grazing land into an agricultural one. A quarter of the cultivated soil is in degradation and there are numerous UN Sustainable Development Goals that contribute to stem this drift. For its regeneration, the soil’s A horizon needs five hundred years, while the B horizon between a thousand and three thousand years. Another crucial aspect is the consumption of soil for feeding purposes, and the inequality of access to this resource is alarming. If the emerged lands represent 29.2 percent of the planet, only 16.6 percent is soil: about eighty-five million km2. Fifteen million of them, equal to 1.5 billion hectares, are cultivated for feeding purposes. Some FAO data: an average European needs two football fields of soil a year for feeding, while in Bangladesh three penalty areas are enough. Another data: over 60 percent of the area dedicated to European feeding is outside the borders of the EU. If on the one hand a change of pace is required for the food morality of all of us, the main grower's matter will then be that of guarding the planet by means of a profession linked to the cultivation of the land and its management, according to a broader strategy and transmissible know-how. Maintaining humid or tree-lined border areas for crops, for example, can reduce wind and water erosion and the consequent loss of organic matter. It is no longer a specific need of a territory; it is an imperative of each cultivated hectare. The presence of organic properties within the soil is today more important than the seed. A loss of organic carbon can lead to soil erosion, just as an unwise irrigation can accelerate the leaching process of nutrients. Guaranteeing life is a matter of choice about fertilizers and management practices whose only focus is the prosperity of the soil. That of cultivation will ensue. It is an interplay of chemistry, meteorology, hydrodynamics, a truly multidisciplinary path. If the farmer needs expertise and an updated vision, the other side of the coin must rotate in the same direction and express the same value. Fertile soil is a prerogative for the future. At the basis of sustainability programs of international interest, the guidelines set three basic targets: to stop the loss of biodiversity, to keep global warming below 2 °C, to ensure adequate nutrition for all. All this, without soil, would not be feasible, but there are many examples to do it. Through Ossigeno, we will share them all.
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