Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India visits ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal

3rd September, 2022,Bhopal

Shri. Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India, visited ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal here today.

During his interaction with the Scientists, he emphasized on the commercialization of the developed technologies and urged to submit a list of potential technologies which can be commercialized. Shri. Ahuja stressed upon development of a commercial model at farmer’s field for crop residue management through introduction of microbial decomposition and conservation agriculture techniques. He accentuated for commercialization of Nano rock phosphate and mechanical coating of seeds with efficient strains of bio fertilizers. He emphasized on the development and standardization of sensor-based technologies for irrigation and nutrient management for field applications. The Secretary also enquired about the scalable technologies which are ready for transfer to farmer’s field and urged to submit a policy paper for the same.

Shri Ahuja also visited the ongoing field experimental units of Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) experiment, Fly Ash experiment (NTPC), Conservation Agriculture (CRP on CA) experiment and Nano Sensor development project.

At the outset, Dr. Ashok K Patra Director, ICAR IISS briefed about the research achievements of the Institute and the on-going research works under various Divisions and Project coordinating units.

The meeting was attended by Shri Ajit Kesari, Additional Chief Secretary (IAS), Govt. of M.P., Shri Rajeev Chaudhary, Director, Agricultural Engineering, Govt. of M.P., Smt. Ritu Chauhan, Additional Collector, Mandi Board, Govt. of M.P. and Shri B.M. Sahare, Deputy Director Agriculture, Govt. of M.P. Besides this senior official from the institute, state and line departments also attended the meeting.

(Source: ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal)