Today, despite vaunted agri-tech breakthroughs, the fertility of most croplands have been declining at an alarming rate. Acid rain caused by air pollution, continuous cropping with a heavy application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and massive land clearing for development, just to name few, have stripped us the most valuable and indispensable asset, namely, “fertile topsoil”. There was a time; we simply throw the seed of fruits we eat into our backyard… and weeks later, a young new plant appears. Today, there are many instances that we can’t even grow common grass in our garden. Natural topsoil or humus that takes as long as 100 to 300 years to accumulate about one inch are most depleted. There is an urgent need to replace the losses by the formation of new humus, which is the main key that determines the fertility of the soil.
