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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Explained: Why organic matter in soil is crucial for a state like Punjab -Anju Agnihotri Chaba

Explained: Why organic matter in soil is crucial for a state like Punjab -Anju Agnihotri Chaba

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published Published on Aug 14, 2020   modified Modified on Aug 16, 2020

-The Indian Express

Indian-American soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal said in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh soils are degraded and depleted because ‘organic matter' is quite below (.5-.2 per cent).

In the past five decades, the state had achieved several firsts in the field of agriculture and even became the first state in the country to install soil fertility map in each village to improve soil health. But the soil of Punjab has always been an issue of debate because the state is not only the highest consumer of chemical fertilisers per hectare in the country, but also the third highest pesticide consumer while accounting for just 1.53 per cent of the total area of the country.

Indian-American soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal, an alumnus of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, who recently received the prestigious World Food Prize, said that in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh soils are degraded and depleted because ‘organic matter’ is quite below (.5-.2 per cent). The Indian Express explains how organic matter in soil is an important issue for Punjab:

* What is organic matter and why it is required in the soil?

Organic matter is the very foundation of good soil health. It consists of plants, animal material which gets converted into humus after decomposing.

According to the agriculture department, it improves soil quality and fertility. Organic matter can even improve the fertility of sandy soils. It supplies nutrients, increases water-holding capacity, prevents soil erosion. Supplication of organic matter into the soil decreases with frequent tilling of the land.

In Punjab, farmers usually plant three crops a year which means the land gets disturbed every time they till, leading to a decrease in organic matter in the soil. “Soil having good amount of organic matter has great water holding capacity which in turn needs lesser irrigation and even helps arrest floods by alloying increased infiltration into the soil,” said Joint Director (Fertilisers), Agriculture department, Jagtar Singh Brar.

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The Indian Express, 14 August, 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-organic-matter-in-soil-is-crucial-for-a-state-like-punjab-6553513/


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