Taking Soil Science to Farmers' Doorsteps through Community Watershed Management

摘要

This lecture is dedicated to great soil scientist Dr. B.V. Mehta and the research is based on the work of a large number of research and development workers from different institutions, including policy makers and resource poor farmers. Soil Science is the backbone of sustainable management and development of natural resources and thus has to play an important role in meeting the emerging challenges. Scientists and policy makers in the tropical developing world have a major challenge on land as thisregion is hotspot of poverty, malnutrition, water scarcity, land degradation and desertification and most likely to bear the brunt of consequences of climate change due to global warming. However, ground reality reveals that despite availability of modern science, tools and scientific knowledge in the research institutes, the poor farmers are struggling to meet their daily needs and are suffering from poverty. Due to lack of opportunities for the Soil Scientists, the students in Soil Science are shyingaway from the discipline; and as a result the new strategic research in the areas of analytical technique development, application of research findings at the field level as well as policy formulation are suffering very badly. Soil Scientists need to take on the challenge and translate the present challenge into opportunities and contribute significantly to achieve the millennium development goals of sustainable development, reducing poverty, improving access and availability of drinking water and building global partnerships. To achieve this goal, community watersheds framework provide opportunities as well as necessary impetus to bring back the soil science at the center stage to help the humankind.