Kohima, July 22 (MExN): The commissioning of Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories and launching of a three-day capacity building programme on mobile soil testing was held at the Directorate of Soil & Water Conservation, Kohima on July 21.
According to a DIPR report, Minister for Soil & Water Conservation, Geology, and Mining, NSMDC, V Kashiho Sangtam was the special guest of the programme.
The Minister said Nagaland is primarily an agrarian state with more than 70% of the population engaged in agriculture, and one must realize that successful agriculture is dependent on healthy soil to produce food sufficient to feed the ever-increasing population.
He added that Nagaland state now has three Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories in addition to the Soil Testing Laboratories in all the districts that are fully equipped with high-tech equipment capable of analyzing both macro and micro nutrients which would aid the farmers in monitoring the health of the soil and apply location-specific management practices. He also said that the state also has block-level mini soil testing labs coming up very soon in all the blocks which will cater to the soil testing needs in remote areas, the DIPR report stated.
The Minister also said that with the assistance of the central government under the leadership of the Prime Minister, efforts are being made to issue Soil Health Cards to all the farmers of the state in phase wise manner and also assist the farmers with organic fertilizers, bio-fertilizers, and micronutrients basing on the soil test report so that the health of the soil can be monitored and managed properly thus keeping the soil alive and healthy for sustainable production.
He also added the state has two Bio Fertilizer Production units at Rotomi Village in Zunheboto district, and Seyochung Town in Kiphire district which will be functional in a few months, and a proposal for another ten more units are with the Finance Ministry, Government of India for consideration. With these units in place, he said the state will have sufficient biofertilizers to meet the demand of the farmers for the entire state.
As per the DIPR report, Chief Secretary J Alam who was the guest of honour, said facilities are now available for the farmers since Nagaland has 90 soil testing labs where 3000 soil tests can be conducted in each lab. He said it would be possible to give a soil health cards to all landholders which would be the goal of the department.
Alam also said that the central government is focused on agriculture and allied departments, particularly in North East India, and with the advancement of digital agriculture one can get the data and information of a particular plot to guide and help farmers. He maintained that the state government is now focused on convergence approach where all departments are involved to work in one direction.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Y Kikheto Sema, who delivered the keynote address, highlighted the history of the Agriculture Department and how the allied departments were formed including the S&WC Department.
He said all the soil health management programmes were handed over to the S&WC Department and within six months, the Department was able to bring 12 Static Soil Testing laboratories from the Ministry which was a great achievement. He also explained that within two years, the Department has launched 27,304 Soil Health Cards (SHCs) for farmers covering all 74 blocks, and 10 Bio-Organic Fertilizer Quality Control Labs sanctioned by the Ministry during the current year.
Additional Director and State Nodal Officer, Soil Health Management, L Chubaonen in his Technical Report noted that the need for soil testing has become very essential for agriculture as people have misused and overexploited the soil for decades without thinking about the need to restore its health.
He also stated that the three Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories were sanctioned at Rs 75.00 lakh per lab and built by M/s Octopus Services, a company based in Baroda, Gujarat.
He explained that these Laboratories are equipped with all the state-of-the-art equipment like Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), Nitrogen Distillation Unit, Flamephotometer, Spectrophotometer, etc., required for analysis of soil samples for both macro & micronutrients in line with the Ministry guidelines for issue of Soil Health Card, the DIPR report stated.
Earlier, the programme was chaired by Secretary, S&WC, Geology & Mining, and team leader NEPeD, Libanthung Lotha, while the vote of thanks was proposed by Director S&WC, SK Hekshe.
Minister V Kashiho Sangtam also inaugurated the three Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories on the occasion, it added.
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