Consultation Workshop on Bharat Soil Health Policy Organised at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad

7 May 2026, Hyderabad

ICAR is organizing regional consultation workshops towards the development of Bharat Soil Health Policy as a national framework to protect, restore, and sustain India’s soils as a living strategic asset essential for food security, climate resilience, farmer livelihoods, and public health.

As a part of this initiative, for South India, ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad along with Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi and Dr Reddy’s Foundation, Hyderabad organized a consultation workshop on Bharat Soil Health Policy today at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad.

More than  110  Officials from central and state governments, researchers and academia including ICAR and state agricultural universities, NGOs, farmer representatives, farmers, representatives from industry, including fertilizer, biofertilizers, water management, seed and other related sectors  participated in the workshop.

Dr A.K. Nayak, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management) Division, ICAR briefed about the genesis of Bharat Soil Health Policy. He has also stressed on the formulation of soil health framework including soil monitoring framework and soil management framework as well as the importance of convergence mechanism at national and regional level. He also stressed to finalize minimum dataset required to monitor the frame work developed. He argued to develop frame works which should be simple and effective to implement the policy.

During the inaugural session Dr V. K. Singh, Director, ICAR-CRIDA welcomed all the distinguished delegates and dignitaries and apprised the gathering about the importance of the health of soil and also informed that the main reason for organizing the workshop to bring the researchers, farmers, NGOs, policy makers and private sector on the same platform so that the recommendations that are useful to the farming community can be made for development of Bharat Soil Health Policy.

Dr M Mohanty, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Dr B Venkateswarlu, Former Vice Chancellor, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV) Dr AK Singh,Former Vice Chancellor of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (RVSKVV), Gwalior, Dr BS Dwivedi, Former Member, Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB) and Dr D Raji Reddy, Vice Chancellor, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University (SKLTGHU) also graced the  inaugural session.

After inaugural programme parallel sessions were held. During the workshop discussions on Soil Health Challenges, Traditional Knowledge, Incentive, Expectations, Alignment with Ongoing Schemes, Regulatory Gaps, Incentives, Scientific Priorities, Data Systems, Soil Taxonomy, SOM Thresholds, Solutions, Innovation Pipeline, Barriers to Scaling were held in different sessions.

The workshop brings together experts, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to deliberate on the framework, key issues, challenges, and strategic directions for soil health governance towards developing a comprehensive soil health policy for India. The workshop captured regional metrics and requirements based on agro-ecological zones and soil types towards developing National Standards, State-Specific Action, and Localized Implementation strategies for soil health

(Source: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad)