In keeping with the objectives outlined in the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was on Saturday signed to preserve Guyana’s soil.
The agreement was signed between Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and yoga guru and spiritual master, Jagadish Vasudev, known as Sadhguru at State House in the presence of President Irfaan Ali, First Lady Mrs. Arya Ali, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and other government officials.
The delegation was treated to a breakfast reception at State House and before departing, Sadhguru is expected to a presentation on the importance of soil sustainability.
Sadhguru is spearheading the ‘Save Soil Movement’ and is on a special one-day visit from Trinidad with a delegation that includes soca mega star Machel Montano, who is also a practicing yogi.
Sadhguru has been teaching yoga in southern India since 1982 and then in 1992, he established the Isha Foundation which also operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational activities.
His work was then recognised further in 2017 with Save Soil, a global movement launched to address the soil crisis by bringing together people from around the world to stand up for Soil Health, and supporting leaders of all nations to institute national policies and actions toward increasing the organic content in cultivable soil.
The issue of soil degradation is a significant threat to the planet as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) predicts that soil extinction could become a reality if soil degradation continues at present rates.
And Sadhguru’s foremost principle for the Save Soil Movement is, “Soil is our life, our very body and if we forsake soil, in many ways, we forsake the planet.”
The practicing yogi has been conferred with three presidential awards among which are the Padma Vibhushan for distinguished service to the Nation and India’s highest environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, in 2010.
