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Kolkata, Nov. 5

The West Bengal Government has undertaken a soil mapping project to assess soil fertility as also to check excessive usage of chemical fertilisers, according to Mr Naren De, State Agriculture Minister.

“Soil samples are being collected at 1-km interval of land to study fertility. We have already collected 75,000 samples and close to two-thirds of our job is over. We are hoping to complete the project by March-April 2010,” Mr De said while speaking on the sidelines of the second Agro Protech Expo and 2E Agribusiness Summit organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the State Government here on Thursday.

The State Government, Mr De said, would try to curb excessive use of chemical fertilisers affecting the fertility of the soil. “Soil fertility is a very critical issue and indiscriminate use of chemical fertiliser destroys it. We want to stress on the use of organic fertilisers,” he said.

Earlier, while speaking at the inaugural session of the summit, Mr De emphasised the need for increasing the production and importance of marketing to complete the food cycle and ensure a fair price to farmers for their produce.

More Stories on : Cultivation | Standards & Benchmarks | West Bengal

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