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Worldwide
WE ARE DESTROYING THE
LAND THAT FEEDS US!
by
Oonald D. Schroeder
More essential than oil! Man 's precious physical resource
- fertile topsoil–
is being destroyed at rates alarming to experts!
1
T COULDN'T
be happening at a worse
time.
Just when the world is experiencing its
greatest populat ion growth in history-when the
world food supply must nearl y double-vast
acreages of the earth's most productive crop–
lands are losing ferti lity through erosion , misuse
and neglect.
Sufficient moisture in many arcas and record
crops have lulled many to sleep. We are fai ling to
understand the tragedy developing in croplands
around the world or under our feet.
Soi l exper t after soil expert warns of intensifying
destruction of vital soils in rich and poor nations.
' 'Land is simply dying in place" because of
increasing demands put on the soil, says one worried
United States' soil official.
Here is what is happening to the soils of the
world. Here is how their destruction- unless quickly
reversed- will d ramatically atfect your life and
pocketbook.
Llfe of a Nation
The soil of a nat ion
determines the life of
a nation. Cropland is
the foundation of
civi lization itself. The
fertile topsoil !ayer in
most countries is often
22
less than a foot thick. Yet on this thin !ayer of soi l
is grown the food and fiber that supports aH life and
mucb industry.
When soils flourish, nat ions and civilizations
flourisb. When soils die, civilizations die with them.
Make no mistake in failing to grasp this critica!
fact of life: ferti le soil is a living organism. Jus t as a
human individual can be injured or killed by severa!
means, so fertile, living soil can be injured or killed .
I t can be abused, stripped naked, strangled,
drowned, starved or poisoned.
The warning signals of abused, sick and dying
soils manifest themselves through serious erosion,
througb waterlogging or excessive salinity, through
falling productivity and through sick and
disease-plagued crops, livestock and humans.
Alarming Wo rld Trend
The destruction of world croplands is already well
advanced. In 1977, the United Nations Conference
on Desertification reported that
one
ftft h
of the
world's cropland is experiencing a degree of
degradation that is intolerable over the long run. The
U.N. report estimated the productivity on this land
has been reduced by an average of
25 perc'ent .
" We are pushing the limits of the planet now in
terms of available
farmland ," says
Douglas R . Horn of the
American Farmland
The PLAIN TRUTH