KERALA SOIL HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM

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An increasing population and diminishing land availability in Kerala State (India) have outlined the need for efficient soil management strategies to improve and sustain the productivity of crops. Soil health management is of paramount importance in the maintenance of quality in respect of soils, agricultural produce as well as the environment.

Soil health Information System helps the visitor to understand the fundamental characteristics of the soils of Kerala State, soil related constraints for crop production, soil fertility aspects and nutrient management plans of all the local bodies (Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations). The resources of the portal are drawn from the massive database generated under the Project on ‘Soil based plant nutrient management plan for agro-ecosystems of Kerala’ implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala and Co-ordinated by the State Planning Board as a multi-institutional programme.

This portal provides current knowledge on soils of Kerala State based on interpretation of the soil fertility database. Basic concepts of soil health, attributes of healthy soils and consistent messages about the current status of soil health are elaborated. Soil health indicators, soil health assessment and best management practices for optimizing crop production and sustaining soil health are also covered.

A suite of fact sheets highlighting soil health parameters to assess and test aspects of soil health are available in the Portal. Aspects relating to microbial diversity of the soils of Kerala State are still under scientific investigation and every effort has been made to identify a minimum dataset to measure soil quality/health. Apart from this, guidelines for organic agriculture and novel techniques for low-input farming are also discussed which is the starting point ultimately leading to a healthy environment and overall health of the community.

Significant contributions were made by the Multi-Institutional Project Team for generating the Soil Fertility Database which forms the resources of the Portal. The content design, technical support and development of the Portal was undertaken by the Project Support Team (Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.