Overuse of fertilisers harming soil health in Karnal
Parveen Arora
Karnal, March 25
Overuse of chemical fertilisers coupled with less enthusiasm for crop diversification among farmers has led to degrading of soil fertility. This has become a major challenge for the farming community in the district, particularly in wheat and rice growing fields.
A data of the Agriculture Department revealed that the soil in the district was deficient in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
The department has collected 2,17,527 samples in the current fiscal, of which 1,02,106 have been tested. A test report revealed that in the majority of samples, organic carbon was low, while nitrogen and phosphorous were low across the district. More than 90 per cent samples had nitrogen deficiency, while over 70 per cent samples were deficient in phosphorous, said Dr, Surender Tamak, Assistant Soil Conservation Officer (ASCO).
A majority of the samples were low in potash which indicated that the farmers were not applying potassic fertilisers, due to which the soil was getting degraded from high to medium category.
Whereas, secondary nutrients such as sulphur was showing deficiency in small pockets. The iron deficiency was spreading very fast as the farmers were not supplementing any fertiliser of iron. Micro elements such as boron, zinc and manganese were found deficient in the small pockets, he added.
“Use of chemical fertilisers is one of the major reasons behind the eroding of soil health. The farmers should avoid haphazard use of chemical fertilisers/pesticides. They should follow crop diversification, for which the government is also offering incentives,” said the ASCO.
The district has 10 soil testing labs, where farmers can get their soil tested. A soil health card is issued to the farmers under the Prime Minister’s flagship prorgamme, ‘Soil health card’ launched in February 2015 from Rajasthan, which aims at informing the farmers about the nutrient status of the soil along with the recommendations of fertiliser dosage for major crops to improve soil health and fertility, Dr Tamak said. Dr Aditya Dabas, Deputy Director Agriculture (DDA), said after the harvesting of the wheat crop, the farmers should cultivate dhaincha crop. The government was offering 80 per cent subsidy on the seed of dhaincha, which improved soil fertility.
The state government had also launched ‘Mera Pani, Meri Virasat’ scheme to promote crop diversification. The farmers should also adopt crop diversification as the state government gave an incentive of 7,000 per acre with the aim of reducing the area of paddy in the state and promoting maize, cotton, oilseed, pulses, onion, fodder crops, horticulture and vegetable crops, said the DDA.
