There is a need for restoring soil health and reclaiming it through appropriate methods to maintain the required nutrient level for better crop yield in the country, experts said on Tuesday.
“We have to make sure that land that has been lost is restored through appropriate economical methods and its moisture and nutrient level is restored,” Food and Agriculture Organisation former Assistant Director General R.B. Singh said at a function here.
To guarantee food and nutritional security for the country’s projected population of 1.5 billion by 2050 it is necessary to double productivity per unit land under cultivation, he added.
He also emphasised the need for soil testing laboratories for immediate analysis of its health.
Climate change and rise in temperature are other concerns for soil health as they lead to nutrient reduction, former Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics (DARE) Secretary Panjab Singh said.
In India, soil quality is deteriorating at a fast rate, which needs to be arrested and rejuvenated for better crop output, he added.
