ICAR – Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the Department of Agriculture, Krishnagiri, jointly organized the World Soil Day celebration at the KVK Campus in Elumichangiri on December 5, 2024. Dr. T. Sundararaj, Senior Scientist and Head of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, presided over the programme and delivered a speech highlighting the importance of World Soil Day and methods to protect soil resources. The programme was also addressed by Mr. C. Pachaiyappan, the Joint Director of Agriculture, Krishnagiri District, who emphasized that farmers can protect soil health and conserve soil resources by using organic fertilizers and green manures in large quantities. He also urged farmers to conduct soil tests before planting crops and apply only the required fertilizers to conserve soil health and reduce fertilizer costs. Furthermore, he informed farmers about crop insurance schemes.

Mr. K. Arivalagan, Assistant Director of Agriculture (Quality Control), delivered a special address stressing that following organic farming practices and applying balanced use of bio-fertilizers and organic inputs can help protect soil resources. Mr. V. Suresh Kumar, Assistant Director of Agriculture for the Krishnagiri block, encouraged farmers to make use of mobile soil testing units available in the agricultural Department. Mr. K. Gunasekar, Subject Matter Specialist (Soil Science) also spoke about how farmers can protect soil resources by applying organic fertilizers and green manures in adequate quantities, based on soil tests, and shared technical methods for soil conservation with the farmers.

Mr. A. Srikanth, a representative from Coromandel International, provided detailed insights into the use of Nano-DAP fertilizers and Coromandel’s organic products. Soil health cards were distributed to 30 farmers during the programme. A total of 55 farmers from villages like Kammampalli, Elumichangiri, and Melkaradikuripatti attended the program