26 Nov 2015|Noida | Amity Campus, Sector-125, Noida
Amity in association with Indian Potash Limited, New Delhi organises two day “South Asia : Soil and Human Health Summit 2015”
Amity University in association with Indian Potash Limited, New Delhi organised two day “South Asia : Soil and Human Health Summit 2015” at Amity Campus, Sector-125, Noida.
Ch.Birender Singh- Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Sanitation and Drinking Water; Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group, Dr. PS Gahlaut- MD, Indian Potash Ltd, Dr. W Selvamurthy- President, Amity Science Technology and Innovation Foundation, Dr. Naleeni Ramawat- Director, Amity Institute of Organic Agriculture and Dr. Kuldeep Singh-Chairman, South Asia :Soil and Human Health Summit 2015 and Emeritus Scientist, Amity Science,Technology & Innovation Foundation inaugurated the Summit.
Welcoming the Hon’ble Minister, Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group thanked him for sparing time out of his busy schedule to enlighten the students. He expressed his hope that the discussions and deliberations of the Conference will come out with innovative ways of promoting judicious use of fertilizers for soil enrichment, which in turn would lead to food and nutritional security.
Addressing the gathering of Agro-Scientists, Academicians, Industry representatives, Ch. Birender Singh- Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Sanitation and Drinking Water expressed his delight over participating in the “South Asia : Soil and Human Health Summit 2015” and commended Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity for setting a new paradigm in higher education. He stated, “As of now, over 70% of Indian population lives in over six lakhs villages. If the country has to grow and develop as a whole, the villages have to be developed economically with improved quality of life. The Government is focusing on rural development through agriculture. The need of the hour is to develop a large number of rural based soil testing laboratories and facilities.” Hon’ble Minister stressed, “ soil plays a critical role in mitigating the affects of climate change, increasing agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security. Promoting soil health through strategies like Integrated Soil Fertility Management, Agro-forestry, Inter cropping and Composting are important ways to improve the declining soil health and for paving the way out of hunger and poverty.”
Sharing his views further, Hon’ble Minister remarked, “Poor nutrition and health are the biggest impoverishing factors in our country. If we channelize agriculture and other sectors towards actions that make people healthier and better nourished, we can do great deal to enhance people’s capabilities and ultimately improve their lives.”
During the occasion, Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group and Ch.Birender Singh- Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Sanitation and Drinking Water launched the website of Amity Centre for Soil Science wherein all the proceedings and breakthrough research in the subject matter will be uploaded for the benefit of the stakeholders. Dr. Chauhan announced that the Website would act as an active platform for exchange of innovative ideas in the area of Soil Science.
Expressing his delight over sharing his views during Summit, Dr. P S Gahlaut- MD,Indian Potash Ltd said that Government of India has declared December 5th2015 as World Soil day, following which an extensive awareness drive has been planned wherein all concerned ministries will join hands to create mass awareness on “Healthy Soil, Healthy Human Beings”. He stressed that the Summit is a Curtain Raiser to all the awareness activities which have been planned by State and Central Government about Soil.
During the Seminar,various Panel Discussions were conducted on topics such “Soil Health Management- Present Status and Challenges”, “Soil Health and Human Nutrition for Rural Development”, “Resource Conservation Technologies for Improving Soil Health” and “Soil Health Management to Improve Quality and Productivity of Pulses”
During the Panel Discussion on “Soil Health and Human Nutrition”, which was chaired by Dr. P N Takkar- Ex. Director, Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal,eminent speakers including Dr. S S Khanna- Former Advisor, Planning Commission and Ex. Vice Chancellor, NDUA&T, Kumarganj, Faizabad, Dr. Shweta Malik- AIIMS, Dr. Soumitra Das- Director (India), International Zinc Association, New Delhi shared their views on how the deficiency of Iron, Zinc and Iodine in soil and crops has a strong correlation with similar deficiency in human beings.
Dr. Soumitra Das highlighted that Zinc is the most essential micro-nutrient for crops and Indian soil has widespread deficiency of Zinc, which gets passed on to plants, animals and finally, human beings.Referring to a WHO Report, Dr. Das stressed, “Zinc deficiency in children aged<5 years causes 1,76, 000 Diarrhea deaths, 4,06,000 Pneumonia deaths and2,07, 000 Malaria deaths annually across the globe.” He highlighted that since 2009, there has been a quantum leap in the use of zinc fertilizers which has considerably improved crop yield, nutritional quality of crops and the human health. Suggesting solutions to fight Zinc deficiency, Dr. Das suggested to increase the production of zinc fortified processed foods,Bio-Fortification ie. Breeding of crops to increase their nutritional value and promoting the use of Zinc supplements.
Sharing her views, Dr. Shweta Malik- Army College of Medical Sciences, Delhi Cantt stressed that Iodine levels in India has fallen 50% during last 30 years, causing autoimmune disorders such as Breast Cancer, Prostrate Cancer and Chronic fatigue. She highlighted that according to data from National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme, more than 71 million Indians suffer from Iodine deficiency disorders. She suggested to use all ingeniously available nutrient sources of Iodine such as Baked Potato, Banana, Milk etc.to reduce dependence on imports; develop new efficient fertilizer products/approaches through state of art R&D applications and called for effective soil testing to back up precise fertilizer use.
During the Panel Discussion on “Organic Agriculture for Soil Health Management”, Dr.Kishan Chandra- Director, National Centre of Organic Farming, MoA, GoI said that Organic Farming has numerous benefits; the products/output have Organic Certification and have no side effects. He stressed that the average gross margin from Organic cotton field is 30-40% higher than the conventional field,therefore, raising the income of the farmers. He called upon the farmers to take care of the soil health to ensure that their coming generations could enjoy the benefits of fertile land and soil.