"Healthy Soils Can End Hunger and Create a Healthy Planet": Dr. Gouranga Kar, Director, ICAR-CRIJAF

The theme of the awareness and soil health card distribution program was “Soil: where food begins,” which emphasized advocating sustainable management of soil resources by addressing the growing challenges in soil and deteriorating soil health for the food and nutritional security of new generations.

Dr. A. R. Saha, In-Charge of the Crop Production Division, welcomed the participants and briefed them about the importance of World Soil Day. He emphasized healthy soil, which means healthy food and, in turn, healthy human beings. The heads of the divisions, in-charges, and other soil scientists also emphasized the importance of soil testing, balanced fertilizer, a soil health card, natural and organic farming, micronutrients, and INM. According to recommendations, soil health cards are precious for applying nutrients, and increasing long-term agricultural productivity.

Dr. Gouranga Kar, Director of ICAR-CRIJAF, emphasized that healthy soils can significantly contribute to ending hunger and creating a healthy planet. He expressed concern over the irrational use of fertilizers, which can adversely affect ecosystems, cause biodiversity loss, and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Kar mentioned that scientific soil management is crucial to getting the beneficial effects of soil microorganisms, which are crucial in making the soil nutrients available to the plants. He also highlighted the importance of balanced soil nutrients to improve the nutritional quality of food and fight malnutrition.

The chief guest of this program, Dhrubajyoti Dey, Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police, emphasized the importance of scientists and farmers working together to spread the message of adopting technology and having a soil health card for proper decision-making towards sustainable soil management for healthy soil. 

A farmer-scientist interaction program was also carried out in the ICAR-CRIJAF (physically and virtually in Haringhata). In this regard, 157 soil health cards were prepared for distribution among the farmers of Dhopagachi village, Haringhata, and Nadia.

A total of 30 farmers from Dhopagachi, Haringhata, and Nadia participated in the program, and soil health cards were distributed among them. More than 90 participants, including farmers and scientists from ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrcakpore, and its substations, attended the program conducted in hybrid mode.