Hyderabad / New Delhi, Dec 13 (Bureau) Need more focus on soil health rather than on producers and production, said Dr Sagar Hanuman Singh, DG, NIPHM (National Institute of Plant Health Management, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, here on Wednesday. In his inaugural address at the 2-day Bio-Agri conference on Bio-Agri Industry being organised by Hyderabad BIPA, held at HICC here, Dr Hanuman said that we have been abusing soil for the past 70 years with chemical fertilisers due to pressure to feed the rising population. As a result, the soil is now contaminated. It has lost its vigor, vitality and fertility.
This is where soil regeneration has arisen. So keep an eye on deteriorating soil health. Government of India schemes emphasise on soil health, in turn plant health and human health, he added. Help soil regain its original blissful state, emphasised, he said. We at NIPHM train farmers how to produce Bio-fertilisers using local resources without using chemicals and technology. Associations like BIPA must discourage fly-by-night operators. More emphasis must be on quality rather than on cheap cost which these fly-by-night operators offer, said Dr Hanuman . In our testing we found that quite a significant Biological products and bio-pesticides do not meet standards. Quite a lot of products contain chemical pesticides, he added. While delivering his address at the conference, Dr SK Malhotra, Project Director of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture (DKMA-ICAR), said Observers Research Foundation put India in first place compared to G-20 countries in climate smart agriculture. He maintained that our production levels rose despite hiccups due to climate change related problems.
The country has adopted climate resilient agriculture. India now needs to bring back nature-positive agriculture. The Pandemic taught us many lessons. We should now scale up natural-positive food systems that would simultaneously promote crop, soil and human health, he said Good news is that Microbial Bio Stimulants can be registered now. Biostimulants products which are now being regulated under new Gazette Notification guidelines in India he announced on the occasion. He said by 2047, when India becomes 100 years of being Independent, the government of India will set an agenda to become a global powerhouse for the Food System. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Praveen Rao, Former Vice Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), said soil health will decide plant health,which in turn decides animal health, which subsequently decides ecology health that will have an impact on planet health.
In the 1960s fertilisers and water were key areas and now it is soil health he served. Dr KRK Reddy, President of Bio Agri Input Producers Association (BIPA) , said 90 companies are supporting BIPA. While presenting a report of its activities undertaken during the last year, BIPA Secretary Dr D. R. Venkatesh mentioned that BIPA is the oldest Bio-Agri industry body in the world and BIPA would be moving into their own office premises next year which was acquired at an investment of Rs 40 lakhs. The Telangana government has allocated space on a 35 years lease, he informed. Nearly 300 delegates from across India and world are participating in the conference. Earlier, the theme for Bio Agri 2023 was “BioAg by 2030 – Miles To Go– Billions to Reach”. BIPA International Journal of Biological Agriculture was launched during the conference. An exhibition was also inaugurated along with the conference and several companies exhibited their products.