BAJAUR: A soil and water testing laboratory has been set up in Bajaur tribal district to help farmers get better yields from their crops.

An official of the local agriculture department told Dawn that the laboratory was set up at the department’s farm services centre a few days ago with the financial support of the Agricultural Research Institute, Tarnab Farm, Peshawar.

The official said it was a modern facility for conducting the testing of soil and water. He said Bajaur was the first region in the merged areas to have such a facility.

He said the facility would enable farmers to have analysis of soil and water at their doorstep as earlier they had to visit Peshawar and other cities for the purpose.

The official said soil and water testing was necessary before cultivating any crop in order to get good yield. He said analysis of soil and water would help better understand about the level of moisture and contents of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in land, so that suitable crops could be cultivated for better yields.

He said farmers had been informed about the establishment of the facility and guidelines on how to collect samples of soil and water. As per the agricultural department guidelines, he added the farmers should collect samples of soil six to eight inch deep for better analysis.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2022