The
Central Soil Salinity Research Institute
(CSSRI), a part of the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) system, was
established in 1969 as a follow up to the
recommendations of an Indo-American expert
group on water management. About 7.3 million
hectares of India’s land area is afflicted
with the twin problems of alkalinity and
salinity coupled with Waterlogging, which
seriously reduce agricultural productivity
and has grave implications for our food
security system. CSSRI researches therefore
focus on reclamation and sustainable management
of salt affected soils and on the rational
use of poor quality waters in agriculture.
The research programmes are implemented
through four divisions; Soil and Crop Management,
Crop Improvement, Irrigation and Drainage
Engineering and Technology Evaluation and
Transfer. Besides the main campus at Zarifa
veeran village, Kachhwa Road, Karnal (Haryana),
the institute has three regional stations
i.e. at Canning
Town (West Bengal) for research on problems
of coastal salinity, at Bharuch
(Gujarat) for salinity problems of black
soil region and at Lucknow
(Uttar Pradesh) for research on Gangetic
alluvial sodic lands. In addition, the co-ordinating
unit of an All India Coordinated Research
Project on “Management of Salt Affected
Soils and Use of Saline Water in Agriculture”
is also located at Karnal and a network
of its research centres are in operation
in different agro-ecological regions. |
