Soil health a silent emergency in Malaysia

WE are rightly alarmed by floods, haze and rising food prices. Yet, beneath our feet lies a crisis we are dangerously ignoring: Our soil is in silent decline.

Across our agricultural heartlands, from padi fields and oil palm plantations to vegetable plots, our soils are tired, depleted of organic matter, stripped of beneficial microbes, and acidified by decades of too much fertiliser usage.