LAMKA, August 20: The District Agriculture Officer, CCpur RK Doranjen today informed a group of media persons that the district will soon have a Soil Testing Laboratory installed possibly by next month.
On being asked, the officer said that the department which had been allocated only a few percent from the state budget has no infrastructure or a place to install the huge machine in CCpur district as of now.
The problem is compounded by the fact that about 40 new staff will be joining the agriculture dept in CCpur soon and there is a serious space constraint, he added.
Answering questions from the media, he said that the dept is helpless to get fund for the construction of the required room as of now because the government has to first provide for the two office buildings which were burned down by miscreants recently in Tamenglong and Chandel districts.
He further continued that construction of the room for the STL in Churachandpur is not easy even if the proposal is being placed before the higher authorities.
He further expressed his confidence that the STL will be a big boon for the farmers of the district and further confided that from the technical side, the office is fully equipped with at least four staff being already trained to handle the STL whenever it is installed.
Addressing the present issue of fertilizers in the state, the DAO said that out of the three allotted truck load of urea, two are yet to reach the district.
He further continued that till now, the office has already distributed 3000 kgs of bio-fertilizers to the farmers free of cost in the district.