With an aim to promote soil health and ensure its conservation, a collaborative effort between Krishi Tantra, a Hyderabad-based social impact start-up, and Gaon Connection, India’s biggest rural media platform, was recently organised in Kabirdham — 128 kilometers from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.
The March 24 event was attended by senior officials in the state police force — Shalabh Kumar Sinha, district superintendent of police, and Jitendra Shukla, commandant of the 17th battalion. The two officials rode bicycles for a stretch as part of the nationwide cycle rally organised to raise awareness on the issue.
The programme focuses on testing soil samples before addition of fertilisers. Sandeep Kondaji, CEO of Krishi Tantra, has developed a device that can test 12 nutrients in a soil sample in 50 minutes. Previously available techniques detected only three nutrients and it took days for the result.
Also Read: Kashmir to Kanyakumari: Cycle rally to raise awareness about soil testing and soil conservation
“Now, farmers here will not have to go to Rajnandgaon village to get their soil sample tested,” Priyajit Bose, president, VPN Farmers Development Organisation, said while addressing farmers.
The cycle rally was inaugurated from the premises of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology in Jammu on March 3 and will culminate in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. Flagging off the rally, Kondaji had said: “We should conserve the soil as a gift from our ancestors. But we have polluted the soil, water and air. If the soil could speak, it would protest against the injustice and exploitation being meted out to it. Even then, future generations will have to suffer the consequences of what is being done now.”
