Soil and Land Management Unit is responsible for providing technical support services related to soil and plant sample testing and giving recommendations and necessary services related to soil and land management. Over the year, we are involved in soil sampling in farmers’ field and also on station for research purpose. The unit also carried out activities to promote organic farming in the region. Promotion of green manuring, composting, and vermi-composting and use of EM solution are being promoted in the region. The unit also promote and carried out various SLM activities in the region in collaboration with Dzongkhags and NSSC Semtokha to combat land degradation. We maintained a Napier multiplication block which is the source of Napier cuttings used in SLM activities. In order to have concrete data on land degradation in the region two soil erosion measuring plot are being maintained at Royal Project Chimipang and ARDSC Menchuna respectively.
Major actiovities carried out by IPM unit are: Survey study on Insect Pests, its Natural Enemies and Diseases Occurrence in Fruits and Vegetables in West Central Bhutan; The efficacy of Mixol 72 against chilli blight, trials on Electric Fencing Using HDPE Pipe and Bird Net Installation for Pear and Persimmon Orchard; Large Scale Promotion of IPM Technologies which includes Comparative-demonstration on use of herbicides against shochum and other rice weeds (On-station) and Rice stem borer management using pheromone traps (On-station and on-farm)