About the Department:
The Department of Soil Science owes its origin to Imperial Agricultural Research Institute established at Pusa, Bihar in 1905. Workers like Dr. J. W. Leather “considered father of Indian Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry” sowed the seed for the research in the field of soil science at Pusa. After the establishment of Rajendra Agricultural University in 1970, the post graduate studies in Soil Science started with a full-fledged laboratory and staff. Stalwarts like Prof. S. C. Mandal, Dr. K. K. Jha, Dr. P. P. Jha, Dr. M.K. Sinha, Dr. R. Sakal and others gave the present shape to the Department. Further the state university i. e Rajendra Agricultural University has been upgraded into CAU, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University and departmental research, teaching and extension activities gained momentum to fulfil the need of farmers, students and researchers.
The department has carved a niche for itself through focused research in different spheres of soil science as well as by producing quality human resource through excellent postgraduate with updated and modern courses curricula. The great diversity in the areas of expertise and interests present in the Department leads to diversity in thesis research. Till date about more than 235 M.Sc. and 73 Ph.D. students have earned degrees and more than 1200 research publications have been made. Over the years, the trained and accomplished faculty members as well as students in addressing current issues in Soil Science have won several national and international awards. Individual staff members within the department have long been recognized for their leadership role in the Soil Science. To cater the needs of farmers, the soil testing lab is issuing Soil Health Card with crop based nutrient recommendation.
Vision
- To promote quality teaching in different field of soil science and strengthen the soil science research through multidisciplinary research for efficient utilization of resources for betterment of agriculture.
Mandate
- To impart education in different branches of soil science and allied fields
- Basic, strategic, and applied research on physical, chemical and biological processes in soils for developing technologies to enhance productivity and quality of soil and agricultural produce.
- To collaborate with relevant national and international agencies for all round development of agriculture in the state.
Objectives/Goals
- To provide scientific basis for enhancing and sustaining productivity of soil resources with minimal environmental degradation.
- To conduct basic research on soil processes for enhancing nutrient use efficiency and soil health sustenance
- To promote bio-waste management technology for improving productivity, soil bio-diversity and carbon storage
- To encourage organic farming under climate smart agriculture for sustaining productivity and ecosystem functioning
- To characterize the key soil biota for improving N, P, K, S and Zn use efficiency in Inceptisols and Alfi sols
- To study conservation agriculture and low carbon footprint to keep soil alive
Degrees Offered
S. No. | Degree Offered | Subject/ Discipline | No. of Seats | Eligibility Qualifications |
I | M. Sc. (Ag) | Soil Science | 13+01* | B.Sc. or B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture/Horticulture |
ii. | Ph.D. | Soil Science | 04+03* | M.Sc. (Ag.) Soil Science / M. Sc. (Ag.) Soil Science & Agril. Chemistry |
(* In-service seats)
Facilities and Infrastructure
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Soil Health Lab | Soil physics Lab | |
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Achievements
i. Students awards and achievements
Session | ICAR-NTS | ICAR- JRF | ICAR- SRF |
2022-23 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
2023-24 | 7 | – | – |
2024-25 | 10 | – | 1 |
Employment details of students at Dept. of Soil Science, PGCA
Sl.No. | Name of Student | Post | Year |
1 | Saumya Ranjan Behera | Assistant Agriculture Officer, Deptt. of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha | 2023 |
2 | SDR Vajra Hyndavi | Selected for admission in the division of Agricultural Physics PG School, IARI, New Delhi | 2024 |
3 | Sonal Rani | Bihar Agricultural Services Category 1/ Sub-divisional Agricultural Officer/Assistant Director/Deputy Director (ATMA) | 2025 |
4 | Praveen Kumar | Bihar Agricultural Services Category 1/ Sub-divisional Agricultural Officer/Assistant Director/Deputy Director (ATMA) | 2025 |
5 | Vikash Kumar | Bihar Agricultural Services Category 1/ Sub-divisional Agricultural Officer/Assistant Director/Deputy Director (ATMA) | 2025 |
6 | Priyanka Choudhary | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
7 | Muskan Keshri | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
8 | Rounaque Praveen | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
9 | Megha Bhadanni | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
10 | Satyam Kumar | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
11 | Nikita Raj | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
12 | Priti Kumari | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
13 | Vivek Kumar | Block Agriculture Officer | 2025 |
- Pepakayala Vara Lakshmi was awarded with Best Research Paper Award on Long-Term Zinc Fertilization in Calcareous Soils Improves Wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) Productivity and Soil Zinc Status in the Rice–Wheat Cropping System by Dr. RPCAU in the year 2022.
ii. Technology developed:
1.Multivariate approach for assessment of Soil health
1a. Agroecological (Agroclimate + Soil types) regions of Bihar
Soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nitrogen (N) are primary determinants of crop yields in the Rice-Maize and Rice-Wheat systems across all four agro-climatic zones (ACZs) of Bihar. This underscores the need to enhance SOC levels and manage N-fertilizer efficiently across these zones.
Cropping systems in each Agroclimatic zone with each soil type exhibit high variability in SOC, available N, P₂O₅, K₂O, sulfur (S), and available water capacity (AWC). Key soil health indicators identified from the SHI assessment for different ACZs under the Rice-Wheat and Rice-Maize systems included SOC, available P₂O₅, K₂O, S, and AWC. Additionally, soil respiration was a crucial indicator for Rohtas (ACZ-IIIB) under both systems, while available zinc (Zn) and water aggregate stability were important for Sitamarhi (ACZ-I) in the Rice-Wheat system.
1b. Alluvial calcareous soil
The first seven PCs factors obtained with PCA of twenty soil quality parameters with eigenvalues >1 explained about 67.86 % of the soil variability included CaCO3, pH, sand, protein, Fe, S, EC, silt, SOC, N, clay, B and K2O.
2.Mid-Infrared spectroscopy for prediction of soil health properties
Soil Organic Carbon, available N, free CaCO3, Sand, silt and clay showed excellent models. pH, EC, micronutrients (except B), wet aggregate stability, active carbon, protein and respiration were observed as fair model.
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Fig.: Bruker Alpha II- MIR | |
3.Soil health improvement of degraded salt affected soil by silvipastoral systems
Simarouba based agroforestry system (AFS) showed the highest soil biological, physical and chemical properties followed by Kadamb and Litchi based AFS. Simarouba based AFS was also found to have significantly higher soil carbon stock than all other treatments irrespective of the soil depths. Thus, this study provided good ideas about potentiality of agroforestry development for sustainable soil use and mitigates atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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Fig.: Simarouba based Agrisilvicultural System |
iii. Faculty awards/ honours:
- Shankar Jha received 1st prize for his thematic pandal in the Kishan Mela 2023, organized by RPCAU, Pusa.
- S.N. Suman, awarded with Second prize in technical article writing competition during Hindi Chetna Mah (01-30 September, 2023) organized by, Rajbhasa Cell, Directorate of Education RPCAU, Pusa.
- S.N. Suman, awarded with first prize in technical article writing competition during Hindi Chetna Mah (01-30 September, 2023) organized by, Rajbhasa Cell, Directorate of Education RPCAU, Pusa.
- S.N. Suman, awarded with Third prize in technical article writing competition during Hindi Chetna Mah (01-30 September, 2024) organized by, Rajbhasa Cell, Directorate of Education RPCAU, Pusa.
- Shiva Nath Suman (2025) Awarded with Second Prize in Poem Writing Competition organized by Nagar Rajbhasha Karvanvayan Samitee, Samastipur, Ministry of Home, Govt. of India
- Shiva Nath Suman, worked as an active member of PGCA Jhanki preparation during committee Republic Day-2025 at RPCAU, Pusa in compliance of O. O. No. 152/ PGCA, RPCAU, Pusa dated 13.01.2025 and PGCA team have been awarded with First Prize continuously for second time.
iv. Research Activities:
National and International Projects with details of PI/Co-PI
Sl. No. | Name of the Project | Funding agency | Scientist Involved |
1 | Assessment of Soil Health | Tata- Cornell Institute (TCI) | Dr. Ranjan Laik, PI |
2 | Soil Testing Scheme | Dr. Sanjay Tiwari, PI | |
3 | AICRP on Micro and Secondary Nutrients and Pollutant Elements in Soils and Plants | ICAR | Dr. Vipin Kumar, PI |
4 | Assessment of mustard varieties in wheat+mustard intercropping system under varying row combination and fertility levels in North Bihar conditions. | RPCAU | Dr. Shankar Jha, Co-PI |
5 | Zinc fortification of forage sorghum and oats with different methods of application. | RPCAU | Dr. Vipin Kumar, Co-PI |
6 | Impact assessment of fly ash on ground water quality and their use in sustainable crop production. | RPCAU | Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, PI |
7 | Assessment of heavy metals pollution in soil and ground water of selected districts of Bihar | RPCAU | Dr. Sanjay Tiwari, PI |
8 | Soil fertility and yield assessment under double transplanted rice in fragile flood prone ecosystem | RPCAU | Dr. Shiva Nath Suman, PI |
9 | Assessing effect of natural farming inputs on Rice-Wheat-Moong cropping system using omission plot techniques. | RPCAU | Dr. S.S. Prasad, PI |
12 | Assessment of foliar and soil application of cow urine on Rice-Wheat-Greengram under natural farming | RPCAU | Dr. S. P. Singh, PI |
13 | AICRP on Irrigation Water Management | ICAR | Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Co-PI |
14 | AICRP on Soil Test Crop Response Correlation (STCR) | ICAR | Dr. Shiva Nath Suman, PI |
v. Publications:
Technical Bulletins:
- Kumar M, Jha S, Suman SN, Dey P, Das R (2020) IPNS Based Long-Term Experiment of Rice -Wheat Cropping System in Calcareous Soil. AICRP on STCR, Department of Soil Science, RPCAU, Pusa: p-111.
- Singh S P, Tiwari S, Suman SN, Jha S, Prasad SS Manna MC (2022) Integrated use of organic and inorganic amendments for management of calcareous sodic soils in eastern India. In Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity-Proceedings of the Global Symposium on Salt-affected Soils 20-22 October 2021, FAO, Rome. ISBN: 978-92-5-136078-1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Leaflets/Folders:
- Jha, S., Singh, S.P., Singh, S.K., Prasad, S.S., Laik, R., Manna, M.C., Tiwari, S., Kumar, V., Singh, A.K. and Suman, S.N. (2022) Department of Soil Science at a Glance. PP:12. Post Graduate College of Agriculture, RPCAU, Pusa.
- Ashok kr. Singh and Sanjay Tiwari, Sanjay Kumar, Santosh Kumar Singh, Shivnath Suman and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Mrida prabandhan ki Samasyen avam Nidan. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/325.
- Ashok kr. Singh and Sanjay Tiwari, Sanjay Kumar, Santosh Kumar Singh, and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Adhunik Krishi me jauvik kheti ka mahatav. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/350.
- Ashok Kumar Singh, Sanjay Tiwari, Sanjay Kumar, Santosh Kumar Singh and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Prakritik kheti me krishi achadano ka mahatav. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/348.
- Sanjay Tiwari, Ashok kumar Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Santosh Kumar Singh, and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Prakritik kheti ki Pahan: kam Lagat avm sukhi kisan. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/324.
- Sanjay Tiwari, Ashok kumar Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Santosh Kumar Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Prakritik kheti me Jivamrit ki upyogita. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/323.
- Sanjay Kumar, Sanjay Tiwari, Ashok kumar Singh, Santosh Kumar Singh, Shivnath Suman and Mukesh Kumar (2022-23). Sukhamjiv mrida swasthya ke liye vardn. DOEE, Pub. No. PGCA/S/F/349.
Lectures Delivered in Training Programme (2023-2025)
- Sanjay Tiwari delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Pipra Kothi on the topic Soil health card importance, soil parameters and recommendation on 24-1-2023.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ on 17-3-2023.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Piprakothi, on the topic `Reclamation & important amendments in problematic soils’ on 24-01-2023.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Saraiya, Muzaffarpur, on the topic `Micronutrient fertilizer and their application and conservation agriculture and soil health’ on 01-09-2023.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Piprakothi, on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ on 17-03-2023.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Essential nutrient deficiency: Impact and symptoms’ and `Toxicity of essential plant nutrients on growth and development of crops’ 13-9-2023.
- Sanjay Tiwari delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic Assessment and interpretation of water quality on 17-3-2023Dr. A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ and `Qualitative testing of fertilizers for impurities’ on 29-5-2025
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ and `Qualitative testing of fertilizers for impurities’ on 21-6-2025.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ and `Qualitative testing of fertilizers for impurities on 08-4-2024.
- A. K. Singh delivered lecture in the training on Integrated Nutrient Management for Fertilizers Dealers Programme at KVK, Birauli on the topic `Assessment and interpretation of water quality’ and `Qualitative testing of fertilizers for impurities on 05-10-2024.
Extension activities
Ongoing various extension activities:
- S.N. Suman (2024) participated and advised farmers to follow soil test based balanced fertilizer application in field for improvement of soil fertility and farm income organized during 29.05.2025 to 12.06.2026 under Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan-Kharif 2025.
Seminars/Conferences/Workshops/Trainings/ Brainstorming sessions organized:
- S.N. Suman (2024) Organized as Co-member Secretary, Diksharambha-III for newly admitted undergraduates’ students of RPCAU, Pusa during 18.10.2024 to 01.11.2024.
- Jha, Shankar (2023) Participated and presented a paper in oral session International Conference on Natural Farming for Revitalizing Environment and Resilient Agriculture (NF-RERA, 2023) from 17-19 March, 2023 at CAU, Imphal, Manipur and recieved 2nd prize.
- Jha, Shankar (2023) Participated in International Conference on ‘Sumangalam-Suflam’ at BHU, Varanasi during 8-9 Jan., 2023
- Minz, S. Suman, S.N., Kumar, V., Singh S.K., Kumar, R., Tiwari, S. and Nath, D. 2024. Impact of long term STCR technology on rice productivity and soil health under rice-wheat system in calcareous soil. Presentation in Global Soil Science Conference, during 18-22, Nov., 2024, New Delhi.
- Jha, Shankar, Prasad, S.S., Singh, S.P., Ahmad, A, Thakur, S., Tiwari, S., Rai, M. Singh, A.K. 2024. RPCAU Steps toward natural farming for socio-economic sustenance. In proceedings of Enabling Sustainable food systems through natural farming, Sub topic, NRM through Agroecological Practices for Climate Resilience pp-109-110. (ISBN- 9-788197-342578).
- Sen, S., Singh, S.P., Shankar, Jha, R.K. Tiwari, S. 2024. Natural farming practices for sustaining soil health under different agroecology in Bihar. In proceedings of Enabling Sustainable food systems through natural farming, Sub topic, NRM through Agro- ecological Practices for Climate Resilience., pp 84-85 (ISBN 9-788197-342578)
Faculties
1 | Dr. Ranjan Laik | Professor | 9934607124 | ranjanlaik@rpcau.ac.in |
2 | Dr. Sanjay Tiwari | Assoc. Prof. & Head | 8051617450 | sanjaytiwari@rpcau.ac.in |
3 | Dr. Vipin Kumar | Associate Professor | 9431841476 | vipin.kumar@rpcau.ac.in |
4 | Dr. S. N. Suman | Associate Professor | 7004345720 | snsuman@rpcau.ac.in |
5 | Dr. Shankar Jha | Associate Professor | 9430259387 | shankarjha@rpcau.ac.in |
6 | Dr. S. P. Singh | Associate Professor | 9801781819 | spsingh.soils@rpcau.ac.in |
7 | Dr. S. S. Prasad | Associate Professor | 8294861811 | ssprasad@rpcau.ac.in |
8 | Dr. A. K. Singh | Assistant Professor | 9934916951 | ashoksingh.soils@rpcau.ac.in |
9 | Dr. Arnab Kundu | Assistant Professor | 9330719811 | dr.arnab@rpcau.ac.in |
10 | Ms. Shilpa | Assistant Professor | 8708235642 | shilpaiari23@gmail.com |
11 | Dr. Gowthamchand N J | Assistant Professor | 8861723659 | drgowthamchandnj@gmail.com |
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