The topsoil, which is the ground's topmost layer and has the largest concentration of nutrients and organic matter, is the best soil for farming. Topsoil is an essential natural resource for our civilization because it is used to cultivate more than 95% of all food produced worldwide.
But during the last few centuries, the
topsoil cover of the world has been drastically reduced by our modern, unsustainable farming practices, which include, but are not limited to, excessive tilling, synthetic fertilizers, and an increase in the use of pesticides. In the last 150 years, over half of the world's productive soil has vanished, and this is happening considerably more quickly than at any other period in history, according to one report. For instance, the topsoil in the US is deteriorating around ten times more quickly than it can be restored. The topsoil cover of the entire planet may be depleted at this rate in around 60 years.
