The ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP), Nagpur, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Coromandel International Ltd (CIL).

The collaboration aims to enhance the dissemination of improved soil test-based crop nutrition management to benefit farmers in Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. This partnership will focus on datasets generated by NBSS&LUP and nutritional management solutions provided by Coromandel for better soil health and to improve crop productivity. This partnership further aims to foster better coordination, research exchange, and support for the farming community.

The MoU will enable Coromandel to bring advanced nutrition and crop management practices to Maharashtra based on the soil information and farm advisories provided by ICAR-NBSS&LUP. As part of the project, site-specific nutrition demonstrations and farmers’ awareness programmes will be conducted.

The validated results will be used to develop Decision Support Systems (DSS) through mobile applications for crop choices and nutrient management. During the signing event, several other common scientific and farmer-centric issues for collaboration between the two organisations were discussed, including drone-based research for precision agriculture, carbon farming, and climate-smart agriculture.

N.G. Patil, Director of ICAR-NBSS&LUP, Nagpur, highlighted the Bureau’s mandate and activities across its five regional centres. He emphasised the goal-oriented developmental approach to provide farmers advisories based on land parcel information using soil data from the Land Resource Inventory (LRI).

Sankarasubramanian S, Executive Director of Nutrient Business, Coromandel International, said there was a need for balanced nutrition management based on soil test data for the betterment of the farmer community. The partnership should extend to other parts of Maharashtra and the country by providing soil based digital solutions to make optimum fertiliser recommendations through site-specific nutrient management, he said.