Mitti map recasts farm future

Following exhaustive work spanning three decades, the bureau has created a databank guided by 40 different parameters 8212; including pH level, water holding capacity, texture, depth, stoniness, microbe content, salinity, minerology, irrigability 8212; to determine the quality of various kinds of soils in the country. If intelligently used, the inventory can revolutionise the way agriculture is managed in the country.

Launched in 1976 across six centres, the soil-mapping programme has covered all the states and some districts. With superior technological inputs, including satellite imagery, the NBSS now has the expertise to provide even block-level data and maps.

The micro-level approach has already found many takers. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu first saw the soil map in former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh8217;s office. Once back home, he spoke to NBSS director K S Gajbhiye and asked for detailed maps for all the blocks in his state. The north-eastern states, too, have shown great interest in the project.

8216;8216;We have traditionally followed need-based agriculture in the country, which doesn8217;t always take factors like soil-suitability into account. In 1950, our total production was 50 million tonnes. Today, it8217;s over 210 million tonnes. But with a population of 106 crore, the average comes to 2 quintals per head per annum, which is the bare minimum,8217;8217; says Gajbhiye. 8216;8216;Planners can now use our data to shift farming from need-based to resource-based, which is the scientific mode.8217;8217;

The benefits would be far reaching, assures Gajbhiye. 8216;8216;Some years ago, farmers in Vidarbha took up cane cultivation in a big way. But the black cotton soil did not support cane, and the experiment failed. Likewise, in western Maharashtra, where erosion is rampant, our data can be of big help,8217;8217; says the NBSS director, explaining the 8216;proper-crop-for-proper-soil8217; philosophy.

For 28 years, Gajbhiye says, scientists tapped all kinds of knowledge 8212; ranging from remote sensing data to traditional local wisdom 8212; and subjected representative soil samples from all over the country to lab tests to determine the quality of various land tracts.

With the NBSS8217;s work now officially over, the onus is now on the Centre and the various state governments to integrate the facts into policy. 8216;8216;The data is useful even for industrial, forest and construction planning, but our focus has been on agriculture,8217;8217; says Gajbhiye.

He emphasises that they aren8217;t just into data-collection. 8216;8216;At a few adopted villages, we have demonstrated the utility of the data. At Sukli in Nagpur district, for instance, soil management pushed up production of sorghum by 58 per cent, soyabean by 31 per cent, chick peas and wheat by 33 per cent and cotton by 68 per cent,8217;8217; says the director.