Bhubaneswar: Agriculture Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, Thursday, said the KALIA scheme will continue in the state despite its merger with PM-KISAN. Not disclosing anything further, Sahoo stated that the second tranche of KALIA money is being disbursed now. “More people have been included in the disbursement of the second installment of funds,” Sahoo added.
The minister made the comments after attending an event on World Soil Day organised by Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment department at Krushi Bhawan here.
The program focused on the severity of the problem of global soil erosion and ways to conserve soil. “Soil is under severe stress mostly due to improper water management and tillage. Erosion is leading to great loss of nutrients. Soil degradation is also responsible for the loss of the water holding capacity of the soil. We need to seriously look into ways to ensure soil fertility in the long run,” said Pravat Kumar Rout, Dean of Extension, OUAT.
He also highlighted the resultant problem of soil displacement and mentioned that all the nutrients are present in the top one inch of the soil. One of the other experts mentioned that one of the lesser known reasons of rise in sea level is due to soil erosion as 21 per cent of the eroded soil flows into the sea.
Agriculture department principal secretary Saurabh Garg said that they are trying to ensure better land and water management practices among farmers through the Bhoochetana initiative. “Now the soil testing technology is available in all 314 blocks of the state for the benefit of the farmers,” said Garg.
Sahoo distributed Soil Health Cards to the farmers.
The minister said that increasing soil erosion is a matter of concern. “It is estimated that globally 75 billion tonnes of soil are eroded every year. This shows that people are not concerned about the future. The aim of observing World Soil Day is to ponder over why the quality of soil is coming down. We need to carry out ample awareness to save this critical element of nature for the future civilisations. Our campaign will also be successful when farmers on their own take the initiative of getting soil health tests done to ensure good health of their soil,” said Sahoo.