Participants of the one day-farmer’s training on Soil Health Card and Soil Health Management at DSCO Conference Hall, Mokokchung on September 21. (Photo: DSCO, Mokokchung)
Farmers learn soil management at department of Soil and Water Conservation training
Mokokchung, September 22 (MExN): A total of 2092 soil samples covering 9 model villages in Mokokchung has already been tested and uploaded for obtaining Soil Health Card (SHC) portal.
Through the SHC, an individual farmer would be able to know the fertility status of his agricultural farm, informed Ruokuosietuo Dzuvichu, District Soil Conservation Officer (DSCO) Mokokchung during a one-day farmer’s training on SHC and Soil Health Management (SHM) under NMSA-SHC 2020-21 by on September 21.
Participants from 19 villages under Ongpangkong North & South blocks attended the training conducted by the department of Soil and Water Conservation at DSCO Conference Hall, Mokokchung. The training involved both technical session and field demonstration.
Dzuvichu also highlighted the Government of India (GoI) SHC and SHM schemes under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and apprised the farmers to seriously give importance on soil fertility and its management while taking up any agricultural activities.
SHC in future will be like a ration card and only through this, the farmers can access to implement any agri-and allied projects, the DSCO said.
He also invited the farmers to come forward for any technical assistance that may be required while referring the SHC.
In the technical session, Renbemo Ngullie, ACTO (Horticulture), KVK, Mokokchung shared on ‘Enrichment of soil fertility through the use of green manures and bio- fertilizers’ while Samuel Sangtam, ACTO (Agronomy), KVK, Mokokchung explained ‘Different types of compost making and its uses.’
During field demonstration, Toshinenla Pongen, Junior Soil Conservation Officer (JSCO), Mokokchung taught the farmers on soil sample collection, use of GPS in sample collection and activities to be performed in the demonstration plots with the use of vermicompost.
Later, Dzuvichu distributed SHC and vermicompost to the farmers, inofremd a press release from JSCO, Mokokchung.
What is SHC?
The SHC is a GoI scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, and among others, used to assess the “current status of soil health and, when used over time, to determine changes in soil health that are affected by land management.” It was introduced in December 5, 2015.
The National Informatics Center (NIC) has developed a web portal (www.soilhealth.dac.gov.in) for generation of uniform SHC and fertiliser recommendation.
On the portal, a farmer can track sample, print SHC, get information on fertiliser dosage for crops, locate soil testing laboratory and so on.
