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Mumbai: Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dadaji Bhuse on Thursday directed the department officials to put up Land Fertility Index (LFI) boards in every Gram Panchayat in the state informing the farmers in simple easy to understand language about the components of soil in the village land and the amount of fertilizer required for it. He directed that a workshop should be organized in every village on the occasion of World Soil Day on December 5.
He further informed that the land fertility index of 38,500 villages in the state has been prepared and posted on the website of the Department of Agriculture. Besides compilation of the land fertility index of 38,500 villages, twelve different types of indices based on four factors have been prepared for each village. These include physical, chemical and biological properties.
He said that these indices should be put up on big billboards in every village. A review meeting was held at Mantralaya in Mumbai on Thursday regarding the installation of fertility index boards at the Gram Panchayat level. Agriculture Commissioner Dhiraj Kumar and Joint Secretary Ganesh Patil were present on the occasion. In the last five years, 57 lakh soil samples have been tested in the state and 2.64 crore soil health leaflets have been distributed. Soil testing samples reduced the use of chemical fertilizers by 8 to 10 per cent and increased crop production by 5 to 6 per cent.
