Background

A study conducted by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, between 1990-2020 documented the incidence, intensity and expansion of soil erosion and soil loss within India. Across the decades, Gujarat registered a total of 119% increase in its top soil loss, while Tamil Nadu topped the charts with a 119% increase in its top soil loss. 

Soil health maintenance is an expensive affair: procedures such as PFLA and Metagenomic sequencing of soil DNA, usage of Mycorrhizal Inoculants and Biopesticides, or Laser-Guided Grading and Terracing are a few exemplified procedures that ensure soil health is maintained, treated and elevated. However, the issue with such interventions is that they are extremely expensive, often unaffordable, and inaccessible to a significant number of farming communities within India who hail from the underserved areas of the nation. 

Thus, to contextualise the issue of soil loss, with specific focus on underserved farming communities, it is essential to curate and create easy to maneuver, affordable and accessible alternatives and interventions which would reduce soil erosion and loss within India’s diverse geographies. Critical issues caused by soil erosion also heighten insecurities for agricultural communities in the form of diminished returns of investment, low crop yields and financial constrictions. Thus, project Root Cause established its central mission as providing low-cost resources that would help the farmers of India improve the health of their soil, while being cognizant of its ecological balance.