To call soil “Soil” and not sand, the UN agencies defined Soil having minimum 3% organic content or matter.
3% means you’re providing microbial life in Soil a famine diet. Thats a very stringent diet but that much diet is needed to call soil as “Soil”, otherwise it is in the process of becoming sand.
<aside> 💡 Not even a single nation in the entire world has an average of 3% organic content in Soil.
</aside>
The highest average percentage for a region/nation in the world is in northern Europe which is 1.58%.
| Region | % Organic Content |
|---|---|
| Northern Europe | 1.58 |
| United States | 1.25 |
| Southern Europe | 1.1 |
| India | 0.68 |
| Africa | 0.3 |
<aside> 💡 Below 1% is considered Desertification
</aside>
If I do a google search for “percentage organic matter in soil” the top results for me are for Government of Western Australia, a Cornell University Factsheet and a Youtube Video from Debacco University:
Government of Western Australia → Agriculture and Food → Soils
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/measuring-and-assessing-soils/what-soil-organic-carbon#:~:text=Organic matter makes up just,biological function of agricultural soils.
Cornell University → Agronomy Fact Sheet Series → Soil Organic Matter (SOM)
Highlight from the factsheet : “Most of our productive agricultural soils have between 3 and 6% organic matter”
Debacco University → Youtube Channel
Resources:
United Nations → World Soil Day → 5th Dec