Did you know that by adopting more sustainable agricultural practices, we can preserve the biodiversity and fertility of our soils?

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Did you know that by adopting more sustainable agricultural practices, we can preserve the biodiversity and fertility of our soils?

Globally, over 60% of productive soils are at risk due to degradation and erosion.​

In our country, known as “Europe´s Orchard”, conserving the quality of the soil is economically and culturally essential.

Overview​

Strong soils, firm future​
  • Soil health is crucial for the balance of nature and thus our well-being.
  • The loss of fertile lands impacts food security and the local economy.
  • The current overexploitation of soil is degrading this resource, causing significant imbalances that threaten our future.

We invite you to join us in preserving our land and the future of upcoming generations.​

Committed to a sustainable future through soil care​

Access to fertile soil is crucial to propel our livelihood systems as well as our ability to prosper as interconnected communities.​

We prevent soil overexploitation through innovative agricultural practices that respect its fertility, ensuring a balance that benefits the earth and the communities that depended on it.​

Cornucopia hydroponics
Our practice of soilless cultivation reduces the necessary surface area by 96% compared to traditional methods. We operate without negative interactions or impacts on the earth, without using pesticides, and without dumping fertilizers or any other substances.​
By minimizing soil occupation, we free up arable lands for regeneration, reforestation, and combatting desertification. Our facilities do not require the artificialization of soil, allowing for its regeneration and reuse if needed.
The health of our soils: because preserving our land is a responsibility, we all share​

Soil erosion, pollution, and progressive desertification lead to the depletion and loss of biodiversity, compromising its viability and our future.​

The loss of fertility in our lands, exacerbated by overexploitation, is a problem that affects all of us.

To mitigate climate change, its effects, and to preserve biodiversity, it is essential to maintain healthy soil and reduce negative impacts on it to allow for its regeneration, as this is the only way to ensure abundant and nutritious harvests.

By protecting and promoting life in the soil, we are investing in a healthier and more sustainable future for our planet and future generations.​

Let’s take care of the land that takes care of us!​​

If you want to know more

Soil is teeming with life, hosting up to a quarter of the planet's biodiversity​
Soil is defined as the thin surface layer of the Earth’s crust. Accustomed to walking on it every day, it may seem inert at a glance, but it is full of organisms that are vital to sustaining the complex ecosystems on which all living beings depend.​
Some organisms till the soil, preventing it from hardening, while other organisms are responsible for providing medicines like penicillin, which saves millions of lives. By consuming animal and plant material, they transform it into essential nutrients for the plants we eat. The biological activity of the soil captures a good portion of the carbon from terrestrial ecosystems. Without the soil, this carbon would return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas causing climate change. Soil also plays an important role in water filtration and improving resilience against floods and droughts.​ This is what healthy soil looks like. However, soil faces a set of environmental issues that deplete its nutrients more quickly than they can regenerate them. Up to 40% of the Earth’s surface is degraded by agricultural overexploitation and human action, directly affecting half of the world’s population.
We face multiple issues that challenge the health and vitality of our soil​
  • Erosion

Soil erosion, while a natural process, is significantly accelerated by unsustainable human activities such as intensive use of heavy machinery, over-fertilization, and irrigation, as well as lack of techniques to protect and conserve this finite resource.

This process negatively impacts the environment, reducing crop yields by 50% and compromising the safety of the food we consume.

Globally, up to 3.2 billion people are affected by various types of land degradation.​

Soil erosion leads to ecosystem degradation and can increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

  • Pollution

The excessive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers causes soil desiccation and destruction of its structure, making it more vulnerable to erosive processes. When soil is contaminated with chemicals, heavy metals, or industrial waste, crops become contaminated by absorbing these dangerous substances. This can have serious consequences for our health and the environment.

  • Deforestation

Deforestation, as one of the most significant erosive factors, is also a global concern, albeit with regional variations. Urban and agricultural expansion has led to the loss of forests, compromising biodiversity, and contributing to soil degradation and impoverishment in all aspects.

Rate of forest loss or gain each year over the past three decades in each region of the world​
Source: FAO, www.epdata.es
Source: TSC, WRI, Universidad de Maryland, www.epdata.es

The last half-century has seen the highest rate of deforestation in human history, clearing an area equivalent to the size of Spain, Portugal, and France.

  • Desertification
Healthy land is spongy, whereas degraded soil is incapable of absorbing water, which facilitates destructive floods or landslides. In addition, eroded soil can displace rivers and lakes, also harming these ecosystems. This all results in the desertification of land that was once teeming with biodiversity.​
How can we act effectively to address this situation?

We can all contribute responsibly with small actions, such as recycling organic materials and choosing environmentally friendly consumption options, avoiding the use of plastics and polluting materials.

At Cornucopia, we direct our efforts towards the preservation, protection, and improvement of land health through various strategies:

  • Our facilities avoid the artificialization of the soil and any action on it is fully reversible. We provide a resistant surface that preserves its integrity and conservation.
  • We use only 4% of the necessary surface compared to traditional farming methods, maximizing efficiency, and freeing up land for potential regeneration, reforestation, and ecological use initiatives. For every Hectare (Ha) used, we free up to 24Ha, which, if dedicated to reforestation, could equate to 410 tons of CO2 captured per year.
  • We completely discard the use of chemical pesticides, which contaminate the soil and aquifers for decades.
  • We reduce the use of fertilizers which are 100% consumed by plants, and we do so in a closed hydroponic cycle.
  • Thus, we eliminate any type of discharge to the soil.
Let's work together to maintain healthy soil for a healthy life.

If you'd like to dive deeper