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About the Department
The Department of Soil Science and Agricultural
Chemistry is one of the oldest teaching and research departments established in
the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore in 1907 to undertake
research and teaching programmes in the erstwhile Madras Presidency. The earlier
research works centered around soil resource investigations in command areas,
manures, plant chemistry, bacteriology and animal nutrition. Soil
testing, fertilizer testing, pesticide testing and pesticide residue
laboratories, soil survey and land use organization, animal nutrition and soil
microbiology were the important divisions functioning in this Department.
With the inception of Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University (TNAU), the Department underwent many organizational changes.
The divisions associated with teaching and research activities in the field of
Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry remained with Department and other
service laboratories like soil testing, fertilizer testing, pesticide testing
and soil survey and land use organization were retained under the control of
Directorate of Agriculture, Madras (Chennai).
The Department is entrusted with the responsibility of undertaking teaching,
research and extension in various fields of Soil Science and Agricultural
Chemistry in Tamil Nadu and also for coordinating the research programmes
in other campuses and research stations.
OBJECTIVES
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To carry out the fundamental and applied
research on soils especially in pedology, soil classification, soil physics,
soil fertility, macro, secondary and micronutrients, remote sensing, radiation
research, 15N studies, agricultural chemicals, farm and industrial
wastes, soil pollution and contamination and crop modeling.
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To develop soil based technologies for the
increased biomass production in the agricultural lands, degraded lands, waste
lands, polluted and contaminated lands.
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To assess the quality of water in rivers,
tanks, industrial and sewage sources for the irrigation of field, horticultural
and tree crops.
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To offer the courses in the different
disciplines of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry for the undergraduate
degree programmes in Agriculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Engineering and
Forestry and Masters and Ph.D. degree programmes in Soil Science and
Agricultural Chemistry.
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To exchange information with other
scientists and extension staff engaged in similar pursuits through field trials,
training, group discussions, symposia, seminars, conferences and publications.
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To collaborate with national, International
and other Research Organizations and Industries dealing with agricultural inputs
like fertilizers and pesticides in undertaking research
programmes.
VISION
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Development of soil test based fertilizer
recommendations for hill vegetables.
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Re assessment of critical levels of
micronutrients for major field crops.
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Optimization of Micronutrients for vegetables
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Mycorrhizal research for drought tolerance and
alleviation of metal toxicity
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Development of decision support system for
predicting crop yields, their nutrient requirements and soil fertility changes
based on
LTFE data
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Creation of soil data base for Tamil Nadu and
dissemination of soil information to the users.
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Development of land resource management
techniques for coastal soil of Tamil Nadu.
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Site-specific soil and fertility management by
precision farming using remote sensing and GIS technologies.
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Development of quality indicators and testing
methods for organic manures, fertilizers under organic farming.
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Fertilizer management for improved nutrient use
efficiency.
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Development of technologies for using bottom
slag, a byproduct from thermal power plant, in crop production
Contact Information
- Postal Address
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- The Professor and Head
- Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
- Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
- Coimbatore 641 003
- Tamil Nadu, India
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- Telephone
- +91-422-2431222 (Ext.235)
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+91-422-2456811
- FAX
- +91-422-2456816
- Electronic mail
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ssac@tnau.ac.in
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