Future-proofing our soil 

Soil is life, yet this precious resource is often overlooked. It supports a quarter of our planet’s biodiversity, filters the water we drink by removing pollutants and impurities and serves as the foundation for 95% of our food. On top of this, soil is crucial for the production of fiber, fuel, and other essential products vital for human survival.

Supporting agriculture is not possible without protecting soil, it plays a vital role by providing nutrients, water and support that plants require in order to grow. Equally, food production would be severely affected without the use of fertile soil. 

Unfortunately, soil is incredibly fragile and under threat due to intensive farming activities, it can take up to 1,000 years to produce just 2-3 cm of soil. Recognizing this fragility is crucial as neglecting soil health amid land-use changes and erosion results in significant carbon emissions, contributing to global warming. Maintaining healthy soil needs to become a priority within agriculture to prevent excess carbon being released into the atmosphere and to create a more sustainable agricultural system.

Preservation through data sharing

Technical innovations and open access to soil data is the solution required to protect soil. For this reason, Varda has developed SoilHive, a digital tool to catalyze collaboration within the food and agricultural industry, enabling the expansion of soil data availability. The platform allows users to discover, compare and share soil data across multiple databases in real time. In the agricultural sector, data is often fragmented, challenging to locate and collaboration is limited due to market competition and privacy concerns. Thanks to SoilHive, soil gaps can be identified across geographies, data insights can be formed and others can contribute to soil sampling campaigns.

Everyone has a vital role to play by sharing their soil data. From scientists, farmers, governments and businesses, collaboration is essential to protect the world’s soils. Soil data donation from as many sources as possible will reinforce the availability of data worldwide. By donating data, farmers will be able to protect and restore their farmland, agronomists will gain effective insights that allow them to effectively advise farmers, new agricultural projects and startups will have access to valuable information for future innovation and governments can safeguard soils through targeted policies. With the future of soil in everyone’s hands, it’s time to start working together to future-proof our planet. 

Visit our SoilHive website to learn more and donate your data.