India, Dec. 4 -- On a lazy Sunday afternoon, while tending to the plants in my small garden, a cherished weekend ritual of self-care and reflection, my attention unexpectedly shifted to the soil. I realised that although I lovingly speak to my plants and nurture them with manure and compost, I rarely acknowledge the soil itself. I enrich it with fertilisers for the sake of the plants, not for the soil. I was focused solely on the outcome, forgetting the origin, the silent foundation that sustains life.

That moment felt like an awakening. I've always known, and even taught others, that soil is a living resource, an underground reservoir of water, nutrients, and biodiversity, and the primary foundation of agriculture and ecosystems. Yet, i...