In order to commemorate the celebration of World Soil Day and International Year of Soils, the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI)- Eastern Region and ICAR-ATARI Kolkata jointly organised a seminar on the theme of Soils – Solid Ground for Life entitled, “Impact of fertilizer policy on soil health and balanced fertilization’’ on 15th December, 2015. While welcoming the delegates, Mr. Y. V. N. Murthy, Regional Executive, FAI (Eastern Region), stressed upon the need for integrating the roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders in overall improvement of soil health and sustained productivity. In his special address, Dr. Soumitra Das, Director, International Zinc Association (IZA), New Delhi emphasized upon the issues relating to soil degradation and importance of restoring soil quality for healthy human life. Dr. A. K. Singh, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Kolkata, in his inaugural address, mentioned the need of revisiting the package of practices specifically the fertilizer recommendations and suggested the necessity of feasible technology/implements alternative to the crop residue burning. While informing the gathering about Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, ARYA, Farmers First and Soil Health Card, Dr. Singh also stressed upon the strategic planning for making farmers aware about the soil health and its effect on human health. He expressed the need for separate recommendations for policy makers and end users of agricultural technologies.
In different technical sessions, site specific nutrient management in restoring soil health, importance of zinc and water soluble fertilizers including organic bio-fertilizers in maintaining soil quality and the fertilizer policy and its impact were discussed. The fertilizer industry also gave an account of initiatives taken by then in sustaining soil health. The seminar was attended by various dignitaries and delegates from FAI, IZA, International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), fertilizer industry along with State Government, SAUs, KVKs and ICAR-ATARI, Kolkata.
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