SHILLONG: The School of Natural Resource Management, College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Barapani celebrated ‘World Soil Day’ on Wednesday in a befitting manner.
Prof. S. Ayyappan, Chancellor of CAU, Imphal and Former Director General of ICAR & Secretary, DARE, New Delhi graced the occasion as Chief Guest while Prof. M. Premjit Singh, Vice-Chancellor, CAU, Imphal presided over the function. More than 90 farmers from nearby villages participated in this mega event.
Dr. Sanjay Swami, Associate Professor (Soils) apprised the house that around 2.24 M ha land is affected from soil acidity in Meghalaya. Apart from this, a large tract of coal mine area of Jaintia Hill district is affected from heavy metal pollution., A team of Soil Scientists of the college is working hard to collect soil samples from the farmers’ field and preparing Soil Health Cards to address this issue
He further added that in compliance of the recent directions from Ministry of Agriculture & farmers Welfare, 10 villages of Umsning block has already been identified and adopted by the Post Graduate students in the discipline of Soil Science and activities for improving soil health will be initiated shortly.
Around 90 Soil Health Cards were distributed to the farmers and the student winners of essay competition in three categories
During his address, Prof. M. Premjit Singh stressed on ‘Soil Health Card’ scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India and called for focusing attention on soil health in agricultural areas across the country, to boost productivity and bring about increased prosperity. He requested the farmers to ask queries relevant to their soil test report given in the Soil Health Cards to scientists present in the programme and take maximum benefit of the programme.
The Chief Guest of the function, Prof. S. Ayyappan highlighted that farmers of Meghalaya have been forced to depend on agriculture for years without knowing the exact fertility status of their soil.
He explained that ‘Soil Health Card’ was a field-specific detailed report of soil fertility status and other important soil parameters that affect crop productivity. The exact understanding of soil status leads to better and more economic use of fertilizers and better soil management practices. He advised the farmers to avoid using fertilisers without testing soil and said that use of fertilisers without first testing the soil was just like taking medicine without first consulting a physician to find out what is needed.