Interviewer: As people, as individuals and you have a lot of followers, is there a complete
change in our mindset and lifestyle that we have to do, make right now?
And it’s linked to consumption and how much we consume.
Sadhguru: See everybody being conscious of consumption has become important because we
have such a large population.
For the land that we have, we have an excess population.
And also it is time that we think of how to contain the population at least where it is.
Whatever we need to do, we have to do.
Why… why is it always necessary that the Government has to bring a policy?
There was a family planning department, but that became family welfare now for whatever
reasons.
I am not here to comment on different political decisions that have been taken, but the important
thing is, can we sustain the population that we produce, that’s all the question is.
If all of us can live wonderfully well, no problem about the population, but when there
is a big question mark about that, that is also an important aspect.
About being conscious of how we use water, definitely every citizen must do it, but the
important thing is transforming India’s agriculture.
Right now the problem is, there is not enough organic content in the soil.
How do you bring organic content in the soil?
The only way you can do it is the leaves of the trees and the animal waste.
Trees are gone long time ago.
Animals are all traveling outside the country.
If you say one word, people will say this is a religious issue, this issue, that issue.
No, if you do not put back organic content back into the soil, you are ruining the soil.
Right now, out of one-hundred-and-sixty million hectares of arable land that we have in this
country, one-hundred-and-four million hectares have been labeled as distressed soil.
This is nearly sixty percent, fifty-five to sixty percent.
Interviewer: What do you mean by animals going out of the country?
Sadhguru: Well, we are the largest beef exporter.
This is not a religious or dietary issue for me.
My thing is how will you keep the organic content in the soil if there is no animal
waste and leaves from the trees.
These are the only two sources you have.
It is not a complex problem.
Traditionally, we have always known the answer for this, but we think there is some very
hi-funda solution for it.
There is no hi-funda solution.
If you want to own an acre… a hectare of land, you must have a minimum of five bovine
animals on the land, not in your city, not somewhere in a school, not somewhere else,
but on the land.
Right now… that was always the understanding.
This is always the understanding of the organic farmer, but today that understanding is gone
because he thinks he can throw chemicals and do it.
See, in United Nations, according to UN standards to call soil as soil, there must be a minimum
of two percent organic content, but today nearly twenty-five percent of India’s soil
has only 0.05 percent organic content.
This means we are converting fertile land into a desert.
Desertification is happening at a rapid pace.
This is the most crucial thing that we are destroying the soil.
Water is not the issue.
Soil is the issue.
If the soil is organically rich, there will always be water.
You must put at least five bovine animals in every hectare of land if you want to own
land.
Otherwise, if you don’t have animals, you cannot own land, it has to come somewhere.
If we don’t do this, we will convert fertile soil into sand, desertification is happening
rapidly.
This is not some alarmist talk.
Everything is showing.