The Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur, celebrated World Soil Day on December 05, 2022 under the theme "Soil: Where food begins" involving farmers, school students and teachers. A program was organized in the Government Integrated Secondary School, Gadar Pipariya village, Sahajpur locality, Jabalpur. About 150 people, including the scientists and technical officers of the Directorate attended the program. The purpose of the program was to increase awareness among the farmers and students about the importance of healthy soil for ecosystems, food security and human health.

The program began with the ICAR theme song, followed by the projection of a FAO video clip highlighting the importance of healthy soil. In his address, Dr J. S. Mishra, Director, Directorate of Weed Research, said that soil is a living body and it is our utmost duty to take care of its health to feed the ever-growing population. He mentioned that it is possible to have healthy environment and prosperous society only through a healthy soil, and appealed for adopting balanced fertilization, utilizing weed biomass and crop residues for making manure, and judicious use of agrochemicals.

On this occasion, Mr. Dibakar Roy, Scientist spoke about soil formation process and role soil nutrients in plant growth. Dr. Himanshu Mahawar, Scientist, talked about soil microorganisms and their role as bio fertilizers in improving soil nutrient availability. Dr. K. K. Barman, Principal Scientist talked about the principles of plant nutrient management, do’s & don’ts for sustenance and improvement of soil health, negative impacts of crop stubble burning on soil health, etc. Dr. V. K. Choudhary, Senior Scientist highlighted the economic and other societal benefit of conservation agriculture practices. Dr. P. K. Singh, Principal Scientist provided information about the environmental pollution caused by the misuse of agrochemicals and burning of crop residues, and encouraged the farmers to adopt the farming methods that help to improve soil health.