The 928th day of the online voluntary “Yogahaar” programme was completed by Patanjali Organic Research Institute, Haridwar along with farmers from various states of the country. 

The theme of the day was on “Soil Health” and in the discussion it emerged that there is a need to work with a holistic vision for soil health. The abundance of organic matter in the soil, abundance of nutrients and availability of water holding capacity together determine the continuity of vitality for crops.

On the occasion, Pawan Kumar from Patanjali Organic Research Institute gave detailed information about the “Yogahaar” programme and the theme of the presentations and followed by discussions. Thereafter, Dr. Manohari Rathi and Tarun Sharma, through their presentation on “Soil Health”, drew the attention of the present members on the methodology adopted, tools identified for measuring soil moisture, earthworm count, Soil Health Card, Dharti Ka Doctor and Soil Health Ladder Chart.

The Soil Health Ladder and Dharti Ka Doctor are being tested among the farmers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Farmers are using them with interest and this has helped the farmers move forward along with increased awareness about the presence and quality of soil biodiversity, nutrients and water in the soil, they have started taking interest in evaluating soil health on the basis of some selected methods. The tools and methods identified were simple to use and could be used by farmers themselves thereby making them self-reliant or ‘Atmanirbhar’.

Dr. Suresh Kumar said by continuously giving crop residues in the field, the soil gets the desired nutrition from the field itself, due to which the soil remains healthy overall and the farmer does not have to do extra work.

Agriculture expert Dr. Vinay Swarop Mehrotra from Bhopal suggested working holistically for soil health. Sanjay Naithani also emphasized on holistic health as well as the management of organic waste. Hariraj Singh talked about the importance and relevance of visiting the fields every day. All the present scientists and farmers appreciated the Snakes and Ladders Game prepared for soil health.

More than 60 farmer representatives from different states of the country participated in the 928th episode of “Yogahaar”.