On the occasion of World Soil Day, an awareness campaign was conducted on Monday in the experimental area of the Department of Soil Science, working under the Faculty of Agriculture, Birsa Agricultural University. Hundreds of students of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of the University participated in this programme.
Vice Chancellor Dr. Omkar Nath Singh, as the chief guest on the occasion, said that life without soil is just a fantasy. Soil health management is essential for food security. Due to exploitation of soil in agriculture and other works and natural calamities, the health of soil is taking a dreadful form. A lot of discussions and rescue programs are being run for this global problem all over the world. Majority of the students of Agricultural University are directly or indirectly connected with the rural environment. Students should personally sensitize all the farmers on soil health management during their visits to their villages.
The Vice Chancellor said that Jharkhand is a very rich state in terms of natural resources. The climate and soil of the state is very suitable for almost all agricultural activities. With special priority and proper management of soil health in the State, there are vast possibilities to be established as the leading agricultural State of the Country.
Special guest Director Research and Dean Agriculture, Dr SK Pal said that excessive water flow, land erosion, acidic land and barren land are major problems in the state. To solve them, there is a need to give special priority to land conservation and soil health management and to make farmers aware. Dean Forestry, Dr MS Mallick expressed the need to pay attention to health management of forest land for environmental balance.
DSW and Chairman (Soil), Dr DK Shahi told the students that World Soil Day has been celebrated globally since 2013 with the approval of UNO. On the occasion, he discussed in detail the importance of World Soil Day and the importance of soil in life. It is said that clay cannot be made; it takes about one thousand years to form one inch of soil naturally. Soil is our natural heritage and it is necessary to be saved from it for future generations, he added.
Chief Scientist, Dr BK Aggarwal said that soil is a living substance. Soil is rich in organic matter and millions of bacteria are present in it. The lack of which affects the quality of the land. Due to imbalanced fertilizer use, land pollution, soil erosion and erosion etc., there is a future threat to the quality of land and food security.