Soil Science and Agricult

Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and remediation. Agricultural chemistry is a science concerned with ways to influence chemical and biochemical processes in soil and plants, with plant mineral nutrition and with using fertilizers and other chemical means to improve fertility and increase yield.

It also addresses several other ways to increase yield, such as herbicides and stimulants for growth, and serves as the scientific basis for the introduction of chemical processes into agriculture. The college has well-furnished Soil Science and Agriculture chemistry lab for day to day experiments and research activities.

Agricultural chemistry is related to both chemical and biological sciences in its aims, processes, and research topics. It is also closely linked to soil science, forestry, meteorology, plant and biochemistry, agricultural microbiology, physics and chemistry. Agricultural soil science studies the chemical, physical, biological, and mineralogical composition of soils as they relate to agriculture. Agricultural soil scientists develop methods that will improve the use of soil and increase the production of food and fiber crops.

Objectives and Activities

This laboratory is used for research in following areas:

• To introduce the classical concepts of soil chemistry and to familiarize students with modern developments in chemistry of soils in relation to using soils as a medium for plant growth
• Analysis of equilibrium soil solution for pH, EC, Eh by the use of Eh-pH meter and conductivity meter
• To impart knowledge about soil fertility and its control, and to understand the role of fertilizers and manures in supplying nutrients to plants so as to achieve high fertilizer use efficiency.
• Chemical analysis of soil for total and available nutrients (Total and available N, P, K, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe and S)  and Analysis of plants for essential elements (N, P, K, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe and S)
• To acquaint the basic structure of alumino-silicate minerals and genesis of clay minerals; soil genesis in terms of factors and processes of soil formation, and to enable students conduct soil survey and interpret soil survey reports in terms of land use planning
• Morphological properties of soil profile in different landforms
• Classification of soils using soil taxonomy
• To teach the basics of soil biology and biochemistry, including biogeochemical cycles, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, microbial interactions in soil and other soil activities.
• Too aware of the problems of soil, water and air pollution associated with use of soils for crop production.
• To impart knowledge about the landforms, physiography and morphology of the earth surface, and distribution and weathering elements in the earth crust.
• To impart knowledge about the basic concepts of remote sensing, aerial photographs and imageries, and their interpretation; application of remote sensing in general and with special reference to soil, plants and yield forecasting; to impart knowledge about geo-statistical techniques with special reference to kriging, and GIS and applications in agriculture.

List of Equipment in the lab:

Sr no	Name of the Equipment
1	Water still distillation unit
2	EC meter
3	pH meter
4	Flame photometer
5	Digital Spectrometer
6	Hot air oven
7	Rotary Shaker
8	Hot plate
9	Water bath
10	Binocular microscope
11	Mridaparikshak Kit
12	Soil Testing Kit
13	Hot air oven
14	Visible spectrophotometer
15	Hydrometer
16	Digestion block
17	Infiltrometer
18	Nitrogen Analyser
19	Digital Weighing Balance (0.001gm)
20	Heating Mental