Page 30 - Atlas of Horticulture

INFRASTRUCTURE STATUS

SOIL TESTING LABORATORY AND SOIL HEALTH CARDS

Soil testing is the widely used practice for evaluation of soil fertility and

fertilizer recommendation. It provides information to farmers / Orchardists on

nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of

nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility. Soil status is
assessed regularly every 3 years so that nutrient deficiencies are identified as per

crop requirement and fertilizers can be applied accordingly. The Soil and Leaf

Analysis Laboratory (SALAL) is situated at Directorate of Horticulture,

Horticulture Complex, Gole Pully, Talab Tillo, Jammu. Besides, Mobile soil

testing laboratory service has also been made available for the orchardists of

remote areas of the division .

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
Centre of Excellence is being established at Advanced Centre for

Horticulture Research, Udheywalla, Jammu (Research Centre of Sher-e-

Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology). It shall facilitate

production of high quality fruit plants, vegetable saplings, flowering plants,

ornamentals, etc. The centre will showcase and disseminate innovative

technologies for preserving germplasm and multiplication of improved and high

yielding varieties of fruit crops. It shall also demonstrate micro irrigation, high-

tech green house technology, etc. and serve as training centre for farming

community.

Further, Bio-Control Laboratory undertake comprehensive efforts for
exploring the bio-diversity of various natural enemies such as predators and

pathogens for their potential utilization in various cropping systems. It helps to

maintain the nucleus culture of bio-agents and their need based mass

multiplication to ensure their timely availability for the field functionaries /

progressive farmers. It aims to develop, validate and demonstrate the large scale

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