Project 2: TANA-Crop Health Camps

(Distribute GreenSeeker/Nitrogen Fertilizer Application Estimator)
Importance: In India, traditionally farmers apply nitrogen fertilizer (urea) uniformly as a blanket recommendation without considering crop type and/or soil nitrogen status to obtain higher crop yields. It has been proven that each crop has specific requirements for nitrogen fertilizer. Low nitrogen application will lead to poor yields. Whereas excessive nitrogen application does not benefit the crop, but increases input costs to the farmer/government and environment pollution. Water soluble nitrate is major component of urea drained into water bodies which is harmful to human and animal health. Furthermore, several factors, including soil type, farm practices, and crop rotations effect the availability of soil nitrogen for crop growth. For example, pulses add more nitrogen to the soil due to their nitrogen fixing ability and corn/rice uptake more nitrogen from the soil. Therefore, identification of optimal nitrogen requirement for each crop is critical to maximize crop yields, reduce input costs and environmental pollution.

• 10 units will be distributed to reach stations to optimize conditions and test the applicability of Green Seeker on our crop varieties.
• TANA Agriculture forum will develop a Telugu version of easy to use manual for GreenSeeker.

Cost/Unit: $500 (GreenSeeker: $500)

Phase II

Soil Health Camps

(Soil Testing and Create awareness on importance of soil health)

Importance of Soil Testing
Soil is an important natural resource that provides essential nutrients required for crop growth. Humans without sound health cannot perform normal functions. Likewise, without having sound health, soil cannot provide favorable environment for optimal crop growth and leads to reduced crop yields. Like we perform routine health checkups to know the health status of our body, soil health needs to be tested periodically. In the past, unknowingly, farmers have taken care of soil health by following good cultural practices, such as applying manures and growing nitrogen fixing crops etc. As the technology has advanced, farmers are depending more on synthetic fertilizers and using them indiscriminately, without knowing what is deficient in the soil. The indiscriminate use of fertilizers not only wastes money but also contributes to environmental pollution. For example, if Phosphorus is low and Potash is high in the soil, one can take the money from Potash and put into Phosphorus. If both are high, fertilizer application can be minimized, which saves money and helps the environment. If both are low, both should be applied to bring their levels up to the levels required for optimal crop growth. Therefore, it is necessary to determine soil health periodically and the only way it can be done is by testing soils.

Benefits of Soil testing

• Diagnoses whether there is too little or too much of a given nutrient in the soil.
• Encourages optimal plant growth and increase crop yields by providing the best fertilizer (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash) recommendations.
• Saves money that might otherwise be spent on unneeded fertilizer.
• Reduces environmental pollution by reducing indiscriminate fertilizer application.

Major Gaps in the Current Soil Testing System

1. Lack of awareness on the importance of soil testing
2. We have well established soil testing laboratories. However, the biggest issue with soil testing in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana areas has been the turnaround time. Often times it takes several months before the soil test results are communicated to farmers. Hence, a farmer cannot take appropriate measures to correct defects in soils on time.
3. Less efficient manual soil sample collection processes.

Major goals
TANA Agriculture committee is looking at various options to improve the efficiency of soil testing processes. Committee is hoping to identify a feasible technology to fill gaps in existing soil testing processes and create awareness on the importance of soil testing among farmers.

Sponsorship Form

1. Name of the Sponsor: ________________________________
2. Sponsor contact address:____________________________________________
3. Phone:_____________________________________
4. Email:__________________________________________
5. Program you would like to sponsor
   Person Protection Equipment (PPE)-$12/kit
   Green Seeker-$500/unit
6. Payments details: Make payments online via TANA online donation portal https://www.tana.org/payment/donate/projects and select the RYTHUKOSAM TANA program

under the donations drop down menu. NO amount is small amount and all donors will be appropriately recognized in our event. Thank you for being part of sustainable Indian Agriculture in 21^st Century and Protect the Natural Resources for Future Generations