Farmers often do not get soil samples from their field tested because of the lengthy procedure involved. To reduce the wait time — which is between two and three hours now — the Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Soil Sciences has devised a technique to test a soil sample in seconds.
Using the ‘infrared spectroscopy’ technique, it takes just a few seconds to know the presence or deficiency of 12 nutrients in a soil sample.
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Soil testing is a vital prerequisite in the process of enhancing soil fertility. It is only after determining the deficient nutrients can a farmer add fertilisers, and eventually increase yield.
RS Chaudhary, chairperson of the soil physics department at the Institute told Gaon Connection: “Till now, the techniques employed to test soil took a lot of time. It required the preparation of soil samples, which itself is a lengthy procedure. Some other methods take hours or even days. This technique gets the soil testing done in seconds.”
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“We can test things like the soil’s pH levels, and the presence and quantity of organic carbon, phosphorus and potassium. We also test soil texture. As of now, we can test twelve parameters in soil samples,” Chaudhary added.
In the spectroscopy technique devised by the Institute, parameters such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, the presence of sand, and water-holding capacity can be known in 20-30 seconds.
