Srinagar, Dec 9: The rate of soil erosion in Jammu and Kashmir is very high and it needs to be arrested, deputy director general (DDG) for Division of Natural Resource Management, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari said.
“Places like Jammu and Kashmir, where the hilly ecosystem is prevalent, the rate of soil and nutrient loss is very very high. And this critical masses of soil, which are losing because of soil erosion need to be arrested,” said Dr Chaudhari, a top soil and water management scientist of the country.
He was delivering an online talk to the students and faculty of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir on the concluding event of the two-day World Soil Day commemoration function organised by the university’s Division of Soil Science, Faculty of Horticulture.
To commemorate World Soil Day, various faculties and divisions of SKUAST-K held events and organised student quizzes, painting and model making competitions, and rallies under the World Bank-ICAR funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) for the institutional development of the university.
Vice-Chancellor of SKUAST-K, Prof JP Sharma, who was the chief guest at the concluding event, laid stress on the preservation of Dharti Maa (the Earth as a mother) and focused on farmer-scientist communication, land degradation and Soil Health Card schemes.
Director Planning and Monitoring, & PI NAHEP, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai talked about stress on the new technologies and innovations being implemented in agriculture and soil science.
Head Soil Science Prof Javaid Ahmad Wani talked about soil salinization and its impact on plant and human health. He stressed on land restoration and biodiversity conservation. Dean Horticulture, Prof Shabir Wani, Associate Deam COAET, Prof Rohtash Kumar and many faculty members and students were present at the occasion.
The event was coordinated by Dr SA Bangroo, Dr Rehana Rassol, Dr Mohammad Iqbal Bhat and Dr Aziz Mujtaba from the faculty, and Dr Owais Bashir, Dr Tajamul Islam, Nasir Bashir, Aanisa Manzoor and Aatira Hilal were student coordinators.
In the quiz competition, Nasir Bashir Naikoo, Suheeba Fayaz, and Birjesh Bhat and Rana Afreen were declared first, second and third respectively.
Areeba Aijaz and Sarhaan won first prize and Azra second prize in the painting competition. The soil salinization model was presented by Abid Hussain, Nadiya Shafi, Areeba Ajaz, Sundus Kanth and Ibtisam Irshad.
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