Discussions were held on the balanced use of fertilisers for sustainable soil health management

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand and the Department of Agriculture, Uttarakhand jointly organised a virtual programme Virtual Kisan Goshthi on ’Balanced Use of Fertilizers for Sustainable Soil Health Management’ on June 18, 2021.

Around 225 farmers from Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh along with the senior officials of ICAR Institutes and State Agricultural Department, Uttarakhand virtually participated in the programme.

The Chief Guest, Subodh Uniyal, Minister of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand urged the farmers to the diversification of agriculture and adopting allied sectors for doubling their income.

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) and Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR highlighted the importance of balanced Use of fertilisers for sustainable soil health management.

Dr M Madhu, Director, ICAR outlined the arising soil and water degradation problems in the country due to imbalanced fertilisation. He urged the farmers to adopt the integrated nutrient management approach where soil test-based fertilisers are judiciously used in combination with the available organic manures, bio-fertilizers and other sources of nutrients.