KVKs celebrate World Soil Day across region

STATE TIMES NEWS
SAMBA: Krishi Vigyan Kendra Samba celebrated World Soil Day 2020 on 5th of December at KVK Samba SKUAST-Jammu with the theme of ”Keep soil alive”, protect soil biodiversity . The Programme was attended by 30 no. of farmers and field officers of development departments participated. The programme was organised under the aegis of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Dr. J.P Sharma and under the guidance of Dr. S.K Gupta, Director Extension (KVKs).
Dr. Vinod Gupta, I/c Sr. Scientist & Head, KVK Samba addressing the farmers, he asked the officers to regularly organize awareness programmes for the farming community at village level for balanced use of fertilizers to increase productivity and soil health.
Initially Dr. Shalini Khajuria KVK Samba in her welcome address emphasised the importance of soil in agricultural productivity and expressed concern over the rising soil erosion in the district.
Dr. Neerja Sharma, Dr.A.K Sinha and Dr.Saurav Gupta Scientists, KVK Samba delivered lectures on this occasion.
The programme was also attended by Dr. Suraj Amrutkar, Dr. Amit Mahajan and Sahil Talgotra. At the end vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Sanjay Khajuria, Scientist, KVK Samba.
POONCH: The Department of Agriculture Poonch celebrated World Soil Day at Krishi Bhawan Complex Poonch on theme ‘Keep soil alive and protect soil biodiversity’. A large number of farmers participated in the programme, amid strict observance of COVID restrictions.
Arvind Baru, Chief Agriculture Officer Poonch, while speaking on the occasion explained the importance of soil and informed participants that against target of 4,000 soil samples for analysis fixed for district, 3,680 soil samples have been collected and analyzed, and most of the soil health cards have been issued. Remaining would be distributed among farmers shortly, he added.
District Agriculture Officer (Ext) Poonch Ajaz Kholi, Assistant Soil Chemist Bhushan Kumar, District Level SMS Sanjyog Katru, Sub Div Agriculture Officer Om Dutt Sharma, SMS-III Mendhar Des Raj Barua also spoke on the occasion and highlighted importance of the day.
Another programme was organised by Mahila Shakti Kendra Poonch under Supervision of District Development Commissioner Poonch Rahul Yadav and District Programme Officer JKICDS Dr Mohammad Tanvir Khan, to celebrate World Soil Day on the theme ‘Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity’.
The District Officer Priya Sharma brought people’s focus and attention towards importance of healthy soil. She laid stress on importance of sustainable management of soil resources. District coordinators Tirath Kour and Noreen Akhter also spoke on the occasion.
REASI: Department of Agriculture Reasi in coordination with the team from ATMA Reasi organised a programme to commemorate ‘World Soil Day’. The programme was inaugurated by Chief Agriculture Officer Reasi Ravinder Thaploo. The programme was held as a part of Kissan Ghosti under ATMA scheme and was attended by about 50 farmers including PRI Members. Rakesh Kr Sharma started proceedings by giving a brief account of the purpose. Guldev Raj, SDAO Reasi gave a detailed account of different activities undertaken by Department of Agriculture Reasi including programmes for improving production and productivity of different crops, apart from mitigating problems of farmers. Rajesh Verma DAO (Extn) briefed the gathering regarding various ways to improve soil health, purpose of soil testing and regular updating of Soil Health Cards for ensuring optimum nutrient management. He urged the farmers to take help of Suresh Chander and Indu Priya, both AEAs for any assistance in soil sampling and soil testing.
Deepak Singh ASCO, Dharmari gave a demonstration on use of micro waste decomposer to convert organic-waste into organic-fertilizer with no cost. Members of Mahila Shaktikaran also participated in the programme.