[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-504201-105":59,"doc-detail-504201-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","down-to-earth-soil-health-and-gut-microbiome","Down To Earth - Soil Health and Gut Microbiome","","Fortnightly coverage on politics of development, environment, and health for young readers, featuring a cover story linking soil health to climate, food systems, and human gut microbiome diversity. The article argues that rising chemical inputs have not restored nitrogen and nutrient quality, and stresses biological monitoring over proxy measures like organic carbon. It highlights how diverse crops and natural, varied diets support thriving microbial communities, enabling soil productivity and carbon sequestration.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/down-to-earth-soil-health-and-gut-microbiome/504201/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/down-to-earth-soil-health-and-gut-microbiome/504201.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Quinn Holloway","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-08","2026-10-03",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the cover story connect soil health with human health and the gut microbiome?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It argues that soil is a living system whose health depends on diverse microorganisms, and that emerging medical science links gut health to the diversity of microbes thriving in the body.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does the article say about India’s soil health cards and chemical fertiliser use?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It cites an analysis of 13 million soil health cards (2023–2025) showing that even with increased chemical fertiliser usage, soils remain deficient in nitrogen and other nutrients.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why does the article say measuring soil organic carbon is not enough?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It explains that soil organic carbon includes both living (active) and dead (inert) carbon, while biological health depends on active carbon; many samples are low in organic carbon and the life inside is not measured.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},504201,1791503740,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":26,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},2336474466712,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","1-15 OCTOBER, 2026  \nFORTNIGHTLY ON POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH Subscriber copy, not for resale `80.00  \nSTORAGE MATTERS  \nIndia’s shift to clean energy now hinges on its  \nenergy storage capacity  \n+  \nnagaland subsidence  \nWarnings of instability  \n P20  \ndata sovereignty  \n Distrust of proprietary US technology grows  \n P38  \n[young.downtoearth.org.in](young.downtoearth.org.in)  \n Air & Mobility   Water   Climate Change   \nWaste  \nFood  \nEnergy  \n Biodiversity   \nEtc  \nA website on  \nEnvironment and Development for the Young and the Curious  \nSUNITA NARAIN \\ EDIT  \nWe need life for life  \nS  \nOIL IS the next gold—this is as down-toearth as it can be. This stepped-on material, which we take for granted, holds the key to so much we need to change in our world—from increased productivity, so we can grow more  \nfood, to sequestering carbon that is pushing temperatures to catastrophic levels. But this requires revisiting our understanding of what makes soil rich and what makes it tick. Science is relearning this knowledge, bringing renewed focus to the wealth below, not just the plants above ground. The fact is, we are so much poorer because we do not accept that soil is a living being; that its health is measured by the millions of micro-organisms, bacteria and fungi living in it. This is the future. Let’s join the dots. Today, we are learning that our health depends on the health ofour gut microbiome. Emerging medical science is linking gut health to the diversity of living micro-organisms that must thrive in our bodies. These bacteria, fungi and viruses number in the trillions and mostly reside in our large intestine and colon. It is estimated that one spoonful of stool  \nthe country’s annual budget. India is the world’s biggest importer of these chemicals and given the blockadesand disruptions ofthe war in the Gulf, this subsidy amount is expected to double in this financial year.  \nThis is a massive public investment to grow food. The question is if this is really what the soil needs. My colleagues did an analysis of the 13 million soil health cards produced between 2023 and 2025, correlating fertiliser usage to the nutrient quality. We found that despite this heavy dosage and a 20 per cent  \nincreased usage of chemical fertilisers in the country, soils remained severely deficient in nitrogen and other macro-and micro-nutrients. This declining soil health is, in turn, adding to the crises of higher inputs, higher  \ncosts to farmers and lower returns. This is where we need to understand the life below the  \nsoil. These soil organisms—microbiota like bacteria, fungi and  \nalgae; microfauna like protozoa and macrofauna like earthworms  \nWe need ways to monitor the biological health of soil so that we do not discount the  \nconThakineysortheebafuetoianngpanollh:i/ts“eoolnpedlebgin thrarinae”drm. ye wetlaol, pipEtntopvipitserwealth aethet  \nbody lies in the diversity of these micro-organisms, which, in turn, is influenced by multiple factors, most importantly, what we eat. Food science is learning about the mechanisms through which our diet interacts with the gut biome and impacts it. For instance, food high in sugar promotes the growth of certain opportunistic bacteria that can outgrow good bacteria and soon. The bottom line of this emerging science is that the more natural and diverse our food is, the more diverse will be the army of these micro-organisms in our gut.  \nBut why am I digressing to food when we are discussing soil? Firstly, because it tells us how off-track science was for so long. We believed that we could push chemicals into our bodies and into our soils, and that all would be well. Instead, what we need is to build the foundations of health—whether of our soil or our body—and this requires us to invest in the diversity that makes bacteria and fungi thrive. We need life for life.  \nFor most conventional agriculture, soil needs inputs of nutrients, which are chemical fertilisers. India’s soil ","cbCaiepTa5QkQ7wu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiepTa5QkQ7wu","pdf",11359249,"English","# STORAGE MATTERS\n## India’s shift to clean energy now hinges on its energy storage capacity\n# COVER STORY\n## Oil is the next gold: life beneath the soil","[{\"question\":\"Why does the cover story connect soil health with human health and the gut microbiome?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that soil is a living system whose health depends on diverse microorganisms, and that emerging medical science links gut health to the diversity of microbes thriving in the body.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the article say about India’s soil health cards and chemical fertiliser use?\",\"answer\":\"It cites an analysis of 13 million soil health cards (2023–2025) showing that even with increased chemical fertiliser usage, soils remain deficient in nitrogen and other nutrients.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article say measuring soil organic carbon is not enough?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that soil organic carbon includes both living (active) and dead (inert) carbon, while biological health depends on active carbon; many samples are low in organic carbon and the life inside is not measured.\"}]","Down To Earth - Soil Health and Gut Microbiome | PDF",1791064983,151]