20 new soil testing labs to be established

In a bid to meet the growing demand for soil testing in the district, the Fazilka administration will set up 20 additional soil testing laboratories. These labs will cater to the agricultural needs of the 2.48 lakh hectares of cultivated land out of the district’s total 2.88 lakh hectares.

Deputy Commissioner Amarpreet Kaur Sandhu explained that while 2.48 lakh hectares are being actively farmed, the existing three soil testing labs in the district have proven inadequate to handle the large number of samples. Currently, these three labs can only test 15,000 samples annually, causing delays for farmers who must wait for their turn.

Once the new labs are operational, the capacity will increase significantly, enabling the testing of up to 60,000 additional samples per year.

Chief Agriculture Officer Sandeep Rinwa confirmed that the department has identified cooperative society offices as the locations for the new laboratories.