Punjab govt provides free soil testing facilities

Chandigarh, Apr 8: In a bid to enhance the soil fertility in Punjab, the government have urged the farmers to get the soil of their agricultural fields tested free of cost from any of the 66 soil laboratories set up by the Agriculture Department.

Giving this information here today Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah said that the capacity of these soil testing labs was 5.95 lakh samples per year. Eight of these labs have the ability to test micro nutrient elements.

He said farmers should make use of fetilizers only after knowing the deficiencies in their soil. The soil testing report should be shown by the farmer to the Agriculture Development Officers for expert advice.

The Minister further said that like soil, testing of water for irrigation was also necessary as underground water in certain areas of the state was not suited to agriculture.

He advised the farmers to contact their Agriculture Development Officers, Block Agriculture Officers or Chief Agriculture Officer of their respective district for more information.

UNI