Inputs submitted by Dr. H.S.Sen to Prof. Biswapati Mandal, BCKV on his request for holding the key areas of Soil Science to be discussed and possible speaker for each in the Brainstorming Meeting of NAAS held at BCKV on 30 Dec, 2014

Major theme A: Soil health & sustainability in crop production		Lead speakers suggested
Soil health & nutrient based fertility management	Soils should be mandatorily evaluated and rated in terms of soil health and not soil fertility per se, for which serious efforts to be made to define soil health valid under different agroecosystems, and relate it to crop productivity and sustainability in production. A soil health map agroecosystemwise may be developed Nutrient based fertility management policy for crops may be developed as an effective package for inorganic, organic and biofertilizers with the sole objective not only to increase the productivity but to maintain or improve soil health as well	Prof. Biswapati Mandal, BCKV Dr. Prabir Ghosh, IGFRI
Land use planning-a systems approach	Land use planning per se should be conceptualized and developed based on basic soil data including physical, chemical and biological parameters, and the soil health index to be worked out based on these data; integrated climate index (to be developed), crop water productivity, farmers’ choices, market opportunities of agricultural produces for each agroecolological areas. Present shortfall in land use planning appears to be for the want of a comprehensive approach suggested above	Dr. AK Patra, IISS
Soil organic matter and carbon fractionation	Water, carbon and nitrogen footprints and their roles in soil-crop management with special reference to climate change Factors affecting C-sequestration in soils in different agroecosystems and long-term  monitoring of the same preferably through radiocarbon dating over the past and  suggest effective predictive models with special reference to climate change Revisit the role of soil organic matter and its interactions with different clays and soil nutrients using carbon fractionation  studies with particular reference to biorhizosphere	Dr. Dilip Pal, Formerly NBSS&LUP Dr. Tapash Bhattacharya, NBB&LUP Dr. B.N.Johri, GB University of  Agriculture and Technology
Ecology & Pollution- a systems approach	Identify specifically the factors, particularly those which are human induced, and very importantly their interaction matrix, affecting the ecology, with special reference to climate change being imminent, and make long term planning preferably in integrated mode, for sustenance of the ecology, most prominently soil erosion and subsidence of land mass, as well as the productivity Mechanism for arsenic, fluoride and heavy metal contamination due to pollution and unplanned use of underground water bodies should be studied. Study on biogeochemistry of arsenic in aquatic environment in soil and development of multi-scalar integrated risk management is important. Such studies, in a comprehensive mode, may go across to other organizations especially those having expertise in ground water chemistry like GSI, and those having expertise in microbiology in rocks and minerals besides soils.  Develop policies on nutrient balance by regulating use of chemicals in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, industries, and other sectors to avoid harmful accumulation of nutrients and heavy metals in soils and water detrimental to flora and fauna, and specifically their roles in eutrophication, hypoxia and formation of dead end zones threatening the aquatic lives relevant particularly for the coastal ecosystem	Indian Institute of  Ecology and Environment, New Delhi/ Dr. MV Singh, Formerly IISS Dr. SWA Naqvi, NIO, Goa
Water resource budgeting	Water resource budgeting and water use policy for each watershed, to be correctly delineated, should be worked out with minimum abstraction of underground water with the overall aim to increase crop water productivity and minimal damage to the ecology of the area. Such studies are important throughout the country. Say in Uttarkhand along the Indo-Gangetic plains where large number of hydro-electric projects have come up and many more in the offing drawing water from Ganga without defining the norms to use them, resulting in fast drying of Ganga conspicuously in the lower reaches. Such issues are important for ecologically vulnerable coastal areas trying to withdraw water from the sweet underground water arbitrarily making way for intrusion of sea water inland; and thus water budgeting for planned use of water for irrigation and other purposes in the ecologically vulnerable coastal areas with water playing the pivotal role is of utmost importance. Unplanned use of water without prior planning led to serious damage to the land and the ecology of the areas elsewhere, in support of which there are plenty of examples.	Dr. BR Sharma, ILRI, New Delhi
Value addition to agricultural produce	In view of agricultural productivity required to reach a steep target in the coming decades to feed the swelling population and protect  our farmers against the fierce competition during WTO regime, necessary steps should be taken urgently to boost up the morale of farmers for increasing the profitability through value addition of various produces of agricultural and allied produces with the aim to establish agriculture as the greatest commercial hub in the country using small and medium scale entrepreneurs-a task very much within the ambit of NRM Division to garner and develop series of protocols	Dr. PK Joshi, NCAP
Major theme B: Soil microbiological properties and its relation to crop productivity with special reference to abiotic stress
Identification & characterization of microbes	Identification and characterization of microbes as individuals and as consortia in soil and water and their roles in regulating different soil functions and their interaction with plants	Dr. DLN Rao, IISS
Microbial genomics	Upgrading knowledge on microbial genomics in order to regulate the functions of genes to address various soil and water related issues	Dr. Pradip Kumar Chakraborti, Institute of Microbial Technology
Microbes in abiotic stress management	Study roles of microbes/ consortia in mitigating different abiotic soil stress situations including drought and soil & water salinity	Dr. K.Annapurna, Division of Microbiology, IARI
Major theme C: Agro-meteorology with special reference to climate change
Climate change and crop productivity	Climate change phenomenon is imminent. The oceanic disasters particularly in this subcontinent is showing an upward swing. Climate change in general is a global phenomenon and should not be viewed for this subcontinent in an isolated manner. Its role on crop productivity is well established, and there are various predictive models available on climate change and its factors, although there are scopes for refinement. What is lacking is trying to link this phenomenon with possibly all soil, crop and water functions, which may be adopted as a general policy to establish future trends of the latter functions in long and medium term perspectives.	Dr. Pramod Agarwal, IWMI/Dr. Himanshu Pathak, IARI
Climate change and water flow from the Himalayan rivers	Although there are contrasting view available of change in water flow and its properties due to climate change, in the Indian subcontinent there are strong evidences available of climate change reducing water flow in the mighty Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers and as a result its quality. The main reasons may be the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers spanning over India, Nepal and Tibet although melting of snow is becoming faster. This needs to be looked into seriously with help of expertise available outside ICAR, and possible measures to be suggested to arrest deterioration in ecological properties with grave consequences on the livelihood observed in the lower reaches in the subcontinent	Dr. K Sreelakshmi, INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE, New Delhi Office