No employees, 4 out of 5 labs for testing soil non-functional
Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Jalandhar, February 14
A number of new agricultural insurance policies and initiatives might be introduced sooner or later, however the current ones are sometimes uncared for. Soil testing labs within the state are excellent instance of such authorities apathy.
Pattern testing goal by no means met
For a lab to be purposeful, 10,000 samples needs to be examined in a 12 months. Due to lack of employees, the goal is rarely met. Senior official, Agriculture Division
Some labs are simply buildings as no checks are executed there. There’s correct employees to hold out soil checks in these ‘so-called’ labs. In Jalandhar, there are 5 labs, however only one is operational.
The soil testing labs are at Bhogpur, Nurmehal, Phillaur, Jalandhar metropolis and Nakodar. Out of those 5 labs, checks are carried out at Bhogpur lab. These checks embrace pH, electrical conductivity and natural carbon willpower in soil.
In Phillaur and Nakodar, there is only one lab assistant every. Additionally, tools is there on the labs, however within the absence of employees, it’s gathering mud.
The district Agriculture Division additionally has an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) for the evaluation of micronutrients in soil comparable to zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe), however there is no such thing as a skilled to function it.
In Kapurthala district, there are two labs. One in Nadala and different in Phagwara. The one in Phagwara is working, whereas the lab in Nadala is non-functional.
A senior official from the Agriculture Division stated labs had been want of the hour to verify the soil well being. He additional stated an Agriculture Improvement Officer (ADO) was required for evaluation other than lab assistant and lab attendant at a lab.
The Director, Division of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Gurvinder Singh, stated the present labs would begin functioning. “We’ll get round 200 new ADOs and make sure that they get deputed at these labs. We are attempting to revive these soil testing labs,” he stated.