15th April 2024, Narendrapur

An Awareness-cum-Capacity Building programme on Quality Assurance of Soil Testing Labs under Soil Health Card Scheme envisioning the Slogan ‘Swasth Dhara, Khet Haraa’ – Healthy Earth, Green Farm was organised jointly by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Kolkata at Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra, RKMVERI, Narandrapur today.

The Chief Guest Swami Shivapurnanandaji Maharaj, Assistant Administrative Head, IRDM, RKMVERI urged for a robust quality assurance scheme to achieve the objective of ensuring the quality and reliability of soil testing. He expressed his great satisfaction in organizing such a timely event.

Dr. Pradip Dey, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Kolkata emphasized that the quality assurance scheme plays a vital role in promoting confidence in laboratory testing and calibration services by ensuring adherence to international standards and best practices. Dr. Dey stressed that soil testing laboratories need to implement effective quality management systems that encompass policies, procedures, documentation, and controls to ensure the consistency and reliability of testing and calibration activities.

Dr. Tamal Kanti Jana, State Agricultural Chemist, spoke about the implementation of the soil health card scheme in the State.

Ms. Malancha Das, Deputy Director, NABL, Kolkata said that NABL evaluates laboratories based on internationally recognized standards such as ISO/IEC 17025 for testing laboratories.

A total of 47 participants attended the training programme.

(Source: ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Kolkata)