Dimapur, Oct. 24 (EMN): With an aim to equip the ATMA (agricultural technology management agency) functionaries with sound knowledge about soil health and its conservation practices, the State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI) organised a two-day training programme on “soil health management and soil conservation practices” at SAMETI, Medziphema from Oct. 23-24.
The resource persons for the training were Limasunep, deputy director and T. Mar Longkumer, from the department of soil health and water conservation, Nagaland. The training programme covered topics on ‘collection of soil sampling, soil testing, importance of plant nutrition, soil pH, reclamation of acid soils, land capability classification, soils of Nagaland, water related problems in the state and soil conservation practices’.
The participants were also taken for a field visit to Bio-control lab, Agri-chemistry lab and Bio-fertilizer lab under IETC Medziphema. Dr. Beremjungla, lecturer and in-charge of
bio-control lab gave a tour of the labs and educated the trainees on the functioning and activities undertaken by the laboratories.
During the valedictory function, Dr. Beremjungla remarked that the north-east, though a culturally and naturally well-endowed region, is still lacking in crop and livestock productivity as compared to other regions of the country, due to the adherence to primitive and exploitative cultivation practices. She said that soil is the most precious asset for farmers and hence, they need to be educated about the health of their soils as 80% of agriculture depends on soil, while the remaining 20% depends on seeds and climatic conditions. She encouraged all the participants to convey the message about the importance of soil to the farmers as the cultivators are mainly concerned about the yield rather than the soil health. She also encouraged the participants to work towards the task of making “vision 2025-food for all” a reality.
On the whole, the training program saw a good turnout of participants from all the districts and concluded with distribution of certificates to the participants. This was stated in a press statement from the institute.
