INDIAN SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCEIst Floor, National Societies Block

National Agricultural Science Centre ComplexDev Prakash Shastri Marg, Pusa, New Delhi - 110 012 (India)

(Phone: 011-25841529, 25841991, Email: isss1934@gmail.com, isss.secretary@gmail.com)

84th ANNUAL CONVENTION(November 15-18, 2019)Final Announcement

As per the First Announcement dated 30 June 2019 the 84th Annual Convention of the Indian Society ofSoil Science will be held at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during November 15-18, 2019(Friday to Monday). The tentative programme is as follows:

November 15, 2019 (Friday)0800 - 0930 Registration1000 - 1130 Inaugural Function1130 - 1200 Tea1200 - 1300 37th Prof. J.N. Mukherjee-ISSS Foundation Lecture by Dr. K.P. Patel, Anand

Topic: Nanotechnology in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition: Indian Perspective1300 - 1400 Lunch1400 - 1600 National Seminar on “Developments in Soil Science - 2019”

Session Ia (Oral Presentations)Hall 1 — Soil Fertility and Plant NutritionHall 2 — Soil ChemistryHall 3 — Soil BiologyHall 4 — Soils and the Environment

1600-1630 Tea1630-1730 Session Ib (Poster Presentations)1730-1800 Special Session on Corporate Interaction1800-1900 Special Lecture by Dr. J.S. Samra, Former CEO, NRAA, Govt. of India

Topic: Alternative Uses of Rice Biomass –A Sustainable Business Modelof Straw to Manure, Soil Health, CNG, Wealth and Employment

1930-2030 Cultural Programme2030 Dinner

November 16, 2019 (Saturday)0900 - 1000 46th Dr. R.V. Tamhane Memorial Lecture by Dr. D.K. Das, Former Professor and Head,

Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, BCKV, KalyaniTopic: Boron - A Neglected Micronutrient in Indian Agriculture

1000-1030 Tea1030-1300 Special Symposium on “Digital Soil Science for Empowering Small and Marginal Farmers”

1. Digital Soil Science: An overview — S.K. Chaudhari, H. Pathak and S. Srivastava2. Recent Developments in Soil Spectroscopy — Keith Shepherd and Erick Towett3. Sensors, Sensing and Data Analytics for Soil Health — Rabi N. Sahoo and Rajeev

Srivastava 4. Artificial Intelligence Applications in Natural Resource Management — S.K. Ambast and

S. Mohanty5. New Techniques IOT and Block Chain in Fertilizer Segment and Soil Health with Existing

Fertilizer- Time to Change — Prashant Puri and Praveen Palliwal1300-1400 Lunch

1400-1530 National Seminar on “Developments in Soil Science - 2019”Session IIa (Oral Presentations)Hall 1 — Soil Fertility and Plant NutritionHall 2 — Soil ChemistryHall 3 — Soil Physics/Soil and Water ConservationHall 4 — IRRI Sponsored Concurrent Session on "Traditional Intelligence to Artificial

Antelligence: Shifting Soil Management Options in Rice agri food systems of India"1530-1630 Session IIb (Poster Presentations)1630-1700 Tea1730-1930 Annual General Body Meeting2000 Dinner

November 17, 2019 (Sunday)

0900-1100 ISSS Best Doctoral Research Presentation Award Contest (Final Round)1100-1130 Tea1130-1330 National Seminar on “Development in Soil Science – 2019”

Session IIIa (Oral Presentations)Hall 1 — Soil Fertility and Plant NutritionHall 2 — Soil BiologyHall 3 — Soil Morphology/ Soil Geography/ Soil Genesis/

Soil Evaluation and Land Use PlanningHall 4 — Soil Education and Public Awareness

1330-1430 Lunch1430-1530 Session IIIb (Poster Presentations)1530-1700 Concluding Session1700-1730 Tea2000 Dinner

November 18, 2019 (Monday) Field Trip (Optional)

NATIONAL SEMINAROral Presentations: For oral, power point presentation of papers a maximum of 8 minutes will be

allowed. Participants are advised to contact in advance the person-in-charge of projection for copyingthe files onto computer hard-disk in the hall where the paper is to be presented. Files in Power Pointformat are to be brought in Pen Drive.

Poster Presentations: For mounting posters, a minimum of one square meter per paper will beallotted. Letter size of posters should be bold and large enough so that one can read the postercontents comfortably from a distance of 2 m.Poster Presentation Tips• Don’t crowd too much information into the presentation; concentrate on two or three main points. Highlight

your title, headings, and sub-headings with colours or coloured lines. Make sure your poster information(text, figures, tables, photos) is clearly visible from a distance of 2 m from the poster so it can be easily readfrom this distance.

• Format headings and sub-headings should be at least 25% larger than the text in bold or semi bold.• Keep your text in short, concise, legible statements; minimize complete sentences and paragraphs.

Remember that photos and graphs convey information more readily than text and tables.• Text in upper and lower case letters is more readable than all capitals. Use Arial or Times New Roman font

style. Text type should be at least 1/4-inch (0.64 cm) tall and readable from a distance of 2 m.

Registration Fee: Registration fee of Rs 4500/- (Rs 3000/- in case of students) is to be paid by direct onlinebank transfer (Account details given below) by 8 November 2019 and share the UTR No. through emailisss1934@gmail.com.

A/c No.: 90292010000393IFSC Code: SYNB0009029Beneficiary name: Indian Society of Soil ScienceBranch: Pusa Campus (Syndicate Bank)

Subsequently the registration fee will be accepted only in cash at the venue of Convention on 14 November2019 onwards. Outstation cheque will not be accepted. Registration fee once paid shall neither be re-funded nor transferred to any other purpose or person.

Accommodation

The delegates are requested to contact the following hotels directly for booking of their accommodation atleast one month prior to the commencement of the event to avoid the increase in negotiated tariff. Thebooking will be made on first come and first serve basis. After booking the hotel, Chairman,accommodation committee be essentially informed (e-mail: isssvaranasi.accommo@gmail.com) inorder to facilitate the transportation of the delegates.

1. Sarweshwary Hotel: Lanka, Varanasi. Contact: Mr. Rahul Singh, Tel: 0542-2977444, Mobile:8853172516, 9005659444; E-mail: sarweshwaryhote l218@gmail.com (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 2000/daynet, Non AC Rooms: Rs. 1400/day).

2. Lee Lotus Grand Hotel: Near Opal Hospital, DLW, Varanasi, Contact: Mr. Ranjan Singh, Tel: 0542-2300803, Mob: 8939796425; E-mail: lelotusgrand@gmail.com (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 2600/day).

3. Hotel Madhuvan Palace: Kakarmatta, near DLW Gate, Varanasi, Contact: Mr. Ganesh Dixit, Tel: 0542-2300275/76; Mob: 9415685288, E-mail: info@madhuvanpalace. co.in (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 3000/day).

4. Hotel Uday Palace: Sundarpur, Varanasi, Contact: Mr. Sawan, Tel: 0542-2316720, 21, 22, 23; Mob:8299030571; E-mail: info@hoteludaypalace.net (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 3200/day).

5. Hotel Shvay Grand: Sonarpura, near Vishal Mall, Varanasi, Contact: Mr. Vishal Srivastava; Tel: 0542-2275006, Mob: 6307940209; E-mail: hotelshivoygrand@ gmail.com (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 2800/day).

6. Hotel Broad Way: Bhelupur, near IP Vijaya, Varanasi, Contact: Vinod Yadav, Tel: 0542-2277338; Mob:9792133338; E-mail: info@newhotelbroadway.co.in (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 2950/day).

7. Hotel Pratap, Samne Ghat, Lanka, Varanasi, Contact: Vinod Singh, Tel: 0542-2366567, Mob:9415100365; E-mail: singhvk41@ gmail.com (Tariff: AC Room: Rs. 1500/day; Non AC Room: Rs. 1100/day).

8. Hotel Ozas Grand: Samne Ghat, Lanka, Varanasi, Contact: S.K. Ojha, Tel: 0542-2368880, Mob:8004932881, 7388754283; E-mail: hotelozasgrand@gmail.com; gm@ hotelozasgrand.com (Tariff: ACRoom: Rs. 3200/day).

Note: Negotiated tariff of the hotels indicated above are net (inclusive of GST)

The delegates are requested to make an advance lumpsum payment of Rs. 3000 per head by sendingthe details of their stay to the organizers at BHU, Varanasi, if needs booking of accommodation by organizers.The payment may be made in the name of DSS 2019 through demand draft (no outstation cheques will beaccepted) drawn at Varanasi and sent by registered post/speed post/courier to:Dr. S.K. Singh, Organizing Secretary-DSS 2019, Professor, Department of Soil Sci. & Agril. Chem., Instituteof Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (UP)It may also be paid through direct online bank transfer to:

Beneficiary Name : DSS 2019A/c No. : 38187529608IFSC Code : SBIN0000211Bank : State Bank of IndiaBranch : BHU Campus, Varanasi

The delegates planning to come with their spouse may be provided desired accommodation onprior information and payment of the booking amount in advance. Limited numbers of the rooms areavailable in the Guest House (University/Institute).

Regarding accommodation, please contact:

Dr. Y.V. SinghChairman, Accommodation CommitteeMob: 09454280586E-mail: isssvaranasi.accommo@gmail.com)

orDr. R.A. MeenaMob: 09598304957E-mail: isssvaranasi.accommo@gmail.com

Transport Facility: Transport facility will be available at Varanasi Airport (Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport )and Varanasi Junction, Manduadih and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction (formerly Mugalsarai) railway stationfor the delegates who communicate us their travel plan indicating date, time and place of arrival and alsotrain/flight name and number well in advance.Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is well connected to railway stations and airport. In case of unavailability ofvehicle due to some unavoidable reasons, delegates are requested to pickup taxi or auto to reach conventionvenue at Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU (Near New Vishwanath Temple of BHU campus).Regarding transport facility, please contact:

Prof. P.K. SharmaChairman, Transport CommitteeMob: 09450796225E-mail: isssvaranasi.trans@gmail.com

orDr. V.K. TripathiCo-Chairman, Transport CommitteeMob: 08987661439E-mail: isssvaranasi.trans@gmail.com

No payment towards Accommodation Charges will be accepted at the Society's Office.

CONTACT PERSONS AT VARANASI

1. Convener: Prof. A.P. Singh, DeanFaculty of AgricultureInstitute of Agricultural SciencesBanaras Hindu UniversityMob: 09935392065, 08004925680E-mail: isssdss2019@gmail.com; apsinghbhu@rediffmail.com

2. Organizing Secretary: Prof. S.K. SinghDept. of Soil Sci. and Agril. Chem.Institute of Agricultural SciencesBanaras Hindu UniversityMob: 9450388652, 08707524632E-mail: isssdss2019@gmail.com; sksingh_1965@rediffmail.com

New Delhi (D.R. Biswas)Dated 18 October 2019 Secretary

84th Annual General Body Meeting Notice

Date: 16 November 2019 (Saturday) Time: 5:30 PM

Venue: Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

AGENDA

1. Confirmation of the proceedings of the 83rd Annual General Body Meeting held on 28-11-2018 atAnand.

2. Presentation and adoption of the Annual Report of the Society for 2018-2019.

3. Presentation and adoption of the audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31st March,2019.

4. Presentation and adoption of the budget estimates for 2020-2021.

5. To consider and adopt, if approved with or without modification, the following amendments of theRules and Regulations of ISSS in the matter of renaming the Twelfth International CongressCommemoration Award.

Existing: 11.4. The Twelfth International Congress Commemoration Award

Amended: 11.4 Dr. J.S. Kanwar Twelfth International Congress Commemoration Award

6. Election of Office Bearers and Councillors in the Council of the Society to the offices falling vacantduring 2020 and 2021.

7. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair (Members of ISSS desirous of raising any pointunder this item are required to send the same in writing to the Secretary on or before 8 November2019).

8. Presidential address.

9. Vote of thanks.

New Delhi (D.R. Biswas)Dated: 18 October 2019 Secretary

Indian Society of Soil ScienceNational Societies Block, National Agricultural Science Centre Complex,

Dev Prakash Shastri Marg, Pusa, New Delhi -110012

Proceedings of the 83rd Annual General Body Meeting of the Indian Society of Soil Science (ISSS)held on 28th November, 2018 at the Anand Agricultural University, Anand.Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, President ISSS, chaired the meeting attended by 110 members of the Society. Dr.Chaudhari extended a formal welcome to the Members. He informed the house that Dr. A.K. Sharma, Dr.K.S. Gajbhiye, Dr. Arun Kumar Sinha, Dr. A.K.V. Joshi and Dr. B.L. Parik had left for their heavenly abodeafter the last general body meeting of the Society held on 12 December 2017. After obituary references, oneminute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls.

Subsequently the agenda items as circulated earlier were taken up for consideration.

1. Confirmation of the proceedings of the 82nd Annual General Body Meeting held on 12-12-2017 atKolkata.The Secretary, ISSS briefly highlighted the salient features of the proceedings of the 82nd Annual GeneralBody Meeting already circulated among the members and the actions taken thereon. After a briefdiscussion, the proceedings were confirmed without any modification.

2. Presentation and adoption of the Annual Report of the Society for 2017-2018.The Annual Report of the Society for the year 2017-2018, as approved by the Council in its meeting heldon 27 October 2018 and circulated among the members, was presented by the Secretary of the ISSS.Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, President asked for suggestions from the members. After brief discussion, AnnualReport as presented by the Secretary was adopted without any modifications.

3. Presentation and adoption of the audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31st March,2018.The audited statement of accounts of the Society for the year ended 31st March 2018 was presented byDr. M.C. Meena, Treasurer ISSS. After a brief discussion the audited statement was adopted.

4. Presentation and adoption of the budget estimates for 2019-2020.Dr. M.C. Meena presented the budget estimates for 2019-2020 which had been drawn and approvedearlier by the Council. With this brief discussion, the budget estimates were adopted by the housewithout any modifications.

5. To consider to stop printing of the hard copies of the JISSS and send the soft copy only to themembers.

It has unanimously been decided that only 500 hard copies of the JISSS may be published to circulateamong the libraries/institutes, 5 copies to the each Chapter of the Society and few copies to membersthat really need it. The soft copy of the JISSS may only be sent to the rest of the members.

6. Election of Office Bearers and Councillors in the Council of the Society to the offices fallingvacant during 2019 and 2020.The Secretary informed the house that following the procedure enshrined in the Rules and Regulations,Council in its meeting held on 27 October 2018 had elected the following Office-bearers and recommendedthe same to the Annual General Body Meeting:President : Dr. A.K. PatraVice-President : Dr. U.P.S. BhadauriaSecretary : Dr. D.R. BiswasJoint Secretary : Dr. S.K. Mahapatra

The Secretary informed that postal ballots for electing 10 Councillors received in Anand were countedby a team led by Dr. U.P.S. Bhadauria. The ten Councillors elected for the years 2019 and 2020 were:Dr. Sanjib Kumar Behera, Dr. N. Chandra Sekaran, Dr. Devraj, Dr. Dileep Kumar, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Dr.Birendra Swaroop Dwivedi, Dr. Pramod Kumar Sharma, Dr. Rajeev Sikka, Dr. Sobaran Singh and Dr.Pravin Himmatrao Vaidya.The house approved the results and congratulated all the members elected to the Council.

7. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair (Members of ISSS desirous of raising anypoint under this item are required to send the same in writing to the Secretary on or before 19November 2018).Nil

8. Presidential AddressDr. S.K. Chaudhari in his Presidential Address highlighted that (i) Nutrient imbalance is a major concernfor Indian soils and multinutrient deficiency needs to be corrected at the earliest possible, (ii) Soildegradation is not only the growing threat but also a global phenomena affecting soils ecological capacitiesto provide consistent ecosystem services, (iii) We need to think and move beyond Soil Health. In fact insafeguarding the health of soil, we cannot ignore the broad eco-functions performed by the soil. Thisfact needs in-depth understanding of soil processes and functions to understand the potential impactsof changing climate scenario, and (iv) Soil Scientists in India should draw synergy from the globalprograms associated with sustainable soil management practices. Role of Institutions and the Societyin restoring soil quality is of utmost importance and hence the Soil Science community has a greatresponsibility to create awareness.

9. Vote of thanks.The meeting came to a close with a vote of thanks by Dr. K.K. Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Secretary,ISSS.

(D.R. Biswas)Secretary, ISSS

Indian Society of Soil ScienceIst Floor, National Societies Block

National Agricultural Science Centre ComplexDev Prakash Sastri Marg, Pusa, New Delhi -110 012

ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019This report includes the salient features of the different activities of the Society during November 2018 – October 2019and is being presented by the Council at the 84th Annual General Body Meeting on 16th November, 2019.

COUNCIL (NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2018)President: Dr. S.K. Chaudhari; Vice-Presidents: Dr. A.K. Shukla and Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Dwivedi; Secretary: Dr. D.R.Biswas; Joint Secretary: Dr. K.M. Manjaiah; Assistant Secretary: Dr. K.K. Bandyopadhyay; Treasurer: Dr. M.C. Meena

Members: Dr. J.S. Kanwar, Dr. D.R. Bhumbla, Dr. S.S. Khanna, Dr. I.P. Abrol, Dr. N.N. Goswami, Dr. G. Dev, Dr. D.K.Das, Dr. M. Velayutham, Dr. P.K. Chhonkar, Dr. G. Narayanasamy, Dr. J.S. Samra, Dr. J.C. Katyal, Dr. A.K. Singh, Dr.B.P. Singh, Dr. R.K. Rattan and Dr. Jagdish Prasad (Past Presidents; Ex-officio)

Dr. P. Balasubramaniam, Dr. U.P.S. Bhadauria, Dr. Debashis Chakraborty, Dr. O.P. Choudhary, Dr. (Mrs.) Rita Dahiya,Dr. Krishnendu Das, Dr. Amlan Kumar Ghosh, Dr. Kuntal Mouli Hati, Dr. Prakash Ramrao Kadu, Dr. (Mrs.) S. Sridevi,Dr. T. Chikkaramappa, Dr. S.K. Gangopadhyay, Dr. N.K. Lenka, Dr. Ramawatar Meena, Dr. K.C. Patel, Dr. M.K.Sharma, Dr. S.K. Sharma, Dr. Dhanwinder Singh, Dr. K.P. Vaidya and Dr. (Mrs.) Shashi S. Yadav

Chief Editor: Dr. B.S. Dwivedi

COUNCIL (JANUARY–OCTOBER 2019)President: Dr. A.K. Patra; Vice-Presidents: Dr. (Mrs.) Vandana Dwivedi and Dr. U.P.S. Bhadauria; Secretary: Dr. D.R.Biswas; Joint Secretary: Dr. S.K. Mahapatra; Assistant Secretary: Dr. K.K. Bandyopadhyay; Treasurer: Dr. M.C. Meena

Members: Dr. J.S. Kanwar (expired on 1 March 2019), Dr. D.R. Bhumbla, Dr. S.S. Khanna, Dr. I.P. Abrol, Dr. N.N.Goswami, Dr. G. Dev, Dr. D.K. Das, Dr. M. Velayutham, Dr. P.K. Chhonkar, Dr. G. Narayanasamy, Dr. J.S. Samra, Dr.J.C. Katyal, Dr. A.K. Singh, Dr. B.P. Singh, Dr. R.K. Rattan, Dr. Jagdish Prasad and Dr. S.K. Chaudhari (Past Presidents;Ex-officio)

Dr. T. Chikkaramappa, Dr. S.K. Gangopadhyay, Dr. N.K. Lenka, Dr. Ramawatar Meena, Dr. K.C. Patel, Dr. M.K.Sharma, Dr. S.K. Sharma, Dr. Dhanwinder Singh, Dr. K.P. Vaidya, Dr. (Mrs.) Shashi S. Yadav, Dr. Sanjib KumarBehera, Dr. N. Chandra Sekaran, Dr. Devraj, Dr. Dileep Kumar, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Dr. Birendra Swaroop Dwivedi, Dr.Pramod Kumar Sharma, Dr. Rajeev Sikka, Dr. Sobaran Singh and Dr. Pravin Himmatrao Vaidya

Chief Editor: Dr. B.S. Dwivedi

Editorial Board (2019)Chief Editor : Dr. B.S. Dwivedi

Editors : Dr. Sanjay Arora, Dr. S.K. Behera, Dr. Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Dr. Debashis Chakraborty, Dr. O.P.Choudhary, Dr. Rita Dahiya, Dr. Pramod Jha, Dr. R.M. Karmakar, Dr. B. Maji, Dr. M.C. Meena, Dr.M.V.S. Naidu, Dr. A.K. Nayak, Dr. Navneet Pareek, Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Dr. A.K. Shukla, Dr. DhyanSingh, Dr. S.K. Singh, Dr. Yadvinder Singh; Dr. D.R. Biswas (Ex-officio) and Dr. S.K. Mahapatra (Ex-officio)

International Consulting Editors: Dr. Balu Bumb, Dr. Eric T. Craswell, Dr. Rattan Lal and Dr. Prabhakar Tamboli

MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIBERSThe membership position at close of the year 2018 was as follows:

Honorary Members 22; Life Members 795; Members 1030; Student Members 682; Donor Members 14;Institutional Member 1; and the total being 2544.

As on 14h October, 2019 the position is:

Honorary Members 21; Life Members 801; Members 1075; Student Members 746; Donor Members 14; andthe total being 2657.

Subscription for the Journal

During 2018: Indian 64, Foreign 5 and Complimentaries 11; total = 80

As on 14th October, 2019: Indian 64, Foreign 4 and Complimentaries 11; total = 79

83rd ANNUAL CONVENTIONThe 83rd Annual Convention of the Indian Society of Soil Science (ISSS) was held at the Anand Agricultural University,Anand during November 27-30, 2018. A brief report on the Convention is presented hereunder.

Inaugural SessionThe inaugural session was held on 27th November 2018 at the Auditorium of B.A. College of Agriculture, Anand

Agricultural University, Anand. On behalf of the Anand Chapter of the ISSS, Dr. K.P. Patel, President, Anand Chapterof ISSS, welcomed the delegates and expressed this event as a unique platform for interaction in their domain ofcontemporary research. Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, President, ISSS, extended a warm welcome to the Chief Guest, Shri O.P.Kohli, Hon’ble Governorshri of Gujarat; the Guest of Honour, Dr. Sanjay Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture,Farmers Welfare & Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat; Dr. N.C. Patel, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor ofAnand Agricultural University, Anand; Dr. O.S. Mbuya, Director, Water Centre and Professor of Soil Science of Florida,Agricultural and Mechanical University, Florida; Hon’ble Past Presidents, ISSS present in the inaugural ceremony,members of the Council of ISSS, University Officials, Delegates from all parts of the country; and other distinguishedguests. Chief Guest, Shri O.P. Kohli, Hon’ble Governorshri of Gujarat presented the Honorary Memberships, Fellowshipsand various Awards of the ISSS for 2018. Dr. D.R. Biswas, Secretary read the citations. A set of publications broughtout on the occasion of the Convention were released during the inaugural ceremony. Shri O.P. Kohli, Hon’bleGovernorshri of Gujarat delivered the inaugural address. He stressed upon conserving land resources and soil healthcard. Inaugural function formally came to a close with a vote of thanks by Dr. V.P. Ramani, Organizing Secretary, 83rd

Annual Convention of ISSS.

During the Convention three special lectures were organized. The 36th Prof. J.N. Mukherjee - ISSS FoundationLecture was delivered by Dr. Yadvinder Singh, Ex-Head, Department of Soil Science, PAU, Ludhiana. Dr. D.K.Das, Former Past President ISSS, New Delhi chaired the session. Special Lecture was delivered by Dr. AnilKumar Singh, Secretary, NAAS, New Delhi on the topic “Water Security: A Reality Check”. Dr. S.S. Khanna,Former Past President ISSS, New Delhi chaired the session. The 45th Dr. R.V. Tamhane Memorial Lecture wasdelivered on 28th November 2018 by Dr. Ch. Srinivasarao, Director, ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad. Dr. J.S. Samra,Former Past President ISSS, Chandigarh, chaired the session.National Seminar

A National Seminar on ‘Developments in Soil Science - 2018’ was organized, in which a total of 80papers in oral and 106 papers in poster sessions were presented on 27th afternoon, 28th afternoon and 29th

November 2018 forenoon. Out of the poster presentations spread over three sessions, following three wereselected for the Best Poster Presentation Award:

1. GIS-based land suitability evaluation for crop production in Basavapura Micro-watershed,Chamarajanagara Taluk and District of Karnataka - A case study. T. Chikkaramappa, S.N. Anil Kumar,G.M. Veerendra Patel, S.S. Prakash and Y. Shruthi

2. Isolation of pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs) from the phyllosphere of Solanaceouscrops and its efficacy on tomato, brinjal and chilli. Jayvirsinh P. Solanki and R.V. Vyas

3. (i) SQI Assessment for alternate cropping sequence in PAP Command Area of Tamil Nadu. A. Tamilezhaiand N. Chandra Sekaran(ii) Distribution of forms of carbon and carbon stock in different land management units of Kanginhalsub-watershed in Northern dry zone of Karnataka. Ragini, S. Patil and P.L. Patil

Chapter ActivitiesFollowing an encouraging response during the previous years, Chapters of ISSS were invited to display in

the form of posters their activities of the preceding one year. These posters remained on display on 27-30November 2018 with one of the Chapter representatives available for discussion for a limited time fixed eachday. The Chapters participated in this programme were: Anand, Bhopal, Delhi, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Ludhiana,Ranchi and Sriniketan. Poster presentations were informative, interesting and well laid-out. Visitors appreciatedthe efforts of the Chapters.

Cultural ProgrammeCultural programme, performed by students of the different colleges of Anand Agricultural University,

Anand, were very marvelous in this technically-rich convention on the evening of 27th November 2018. All thedelegates enjoyed and appreciated this programme.

Concluding SessionThe concluding session was held on 29th November 2018 with Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, President of the ISSS in

the chair. In-depth review of all the special and technical sessions including Special symposium on “Challengesand Opportunities in Rainfed Agriculture under Changing Climate Scenario” was made. Members were requestedto offer their comments on the several activities carried out during the preceding three days. Members mademany useful suggestions. Dr. Anjani Kumar was awarded the ISSS Best Doctoral Research Presentation Awardfor the year 2018, while the other contestants, namely, Dr. P.S. Bhindu, Dr. Y. Bijalaxmi Devi, Dr. DebasisGolui, Dr. Priya P. Gurav, Dr. T.M. Neethu, Dr. H.M. Pushpa and Dr. Shehnaz were given CommendationCertificates. Prabhat Nandkumar Patle, T. Pallavi, Shraddha Mohanty and Varsha Pandey were awarded theZonal Award from East Zone, West Zone, North Zone and South Zone, respectively. Dr. S.K. Chaudharipresented ISSS Best Doctoral Research Presentation Award and the Commendation Certificates and Zonalaward. Efforts made by the Members of the Anand Chapter in making the Convention a memorable and grandsuccess were highly commended; the delegates gave the standing ovation to the organizers. At the end of theconcluding session, the annual convention was declared formally closed by Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, President of theISSS.

BUSINESS MEETINGS83rd Annual General Body Meeting

The 83rd Annual General Body Meeting of ISSS was held on 28 November 2018. Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, Presidentof the ISSS, chaired the meeting attended by 110 members of the Society. The business of the meeting as perthe listed agenda, was transacted. The proceedings of the 82nd Annual General Body Meeting held on 12December, 2017 at Kolkata, were considered and confirmed by the house. Dr. D.R. Biswas, Secretary presentedthe Annual Report of the Society for the period November 2017 – October 2018; it was adopted by the house.The audited statement of the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2018 and budget estimates for 2019-2020were presented by Dr. M.C. Meena, Treasurer; these were adopted by the house after some discussion andclarifications. The results of election for filling the offices falling vacant for 2019 and 2020 were announced; Dr.A.K. Patra, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal was elected as the President; Dr. U.P.S.Bhadauria, Joint Director Extension, Directorate of Extension Services, R.V.S.K.V.V., Gwalior was elected asthe Vice President; Dr. D.R. Biswas, Principal Scientist, Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry,IARI, New Delhi and Dr. S.K. Mahapatra, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NBSS&LUP, Delhi Regional Centre wereelected as the Secretary and Joint Secretary, respectively. The 10 Councillors, declared elected were Dr. SanjibKumar Behera, Dr. N. Chandra Sekaran, Dr. Devraj, Dr. Dileep Kumar, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Dr. BirendraSwaroop Dwivedi, Dr. Pramod Kumar Sharma, Dr. Rajeev Sikka, Dr. Sobaran Singh and Dr. Pravin HimmatraoVaidya. The members elected were felicitated in the Annual General Body meeting. Dr. S.K. Chaudhari deliveredthe Presidential address. The meeting came to a close with a vote of thanks by Dr. K.K. Bandyopadhyay,Assistant Secretary, ISSS.

Council MeetingsThe Council met three times in 2019, on 16th March, 15th June, and 19th October, 2019 to transact the business of theSociety. All the meetings were chaired by Dr. A.K. Patra, President. Members of the Council attended these meetingsin large numbers and contributed substantially to the proceedings of these meetings.

FINANCEThe financial position of the Society continues to be satisfactory. The Society was sanctioned Rs. 2,00,000/- as grant-in-aid by ICAR during 2018-2019 for the publication of the Journal of the Society and Rs. 5,00,000/- for organizing theConvention in Anand. The audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2019 and the budget estimatesfor the year 2020-2021 drawn by the Council are being placed for approval at the 84th Annual General Body Meeting.

PUBLICATIONSJournal: The fourth issue (December 2018) of the Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, Vol. 66 was broughtout. Volume 66 for the year 2018 covered 446 pages. The supplementary issue of 2018 containing the memoriallectures delivered in 2018 is being published. So far June 2019 issue of the Journal (Vol. 67 for 2019) has beenbrought out and it run into 240 pages.

EDITORIAL BOARD REPORTEditorial Board continued a comprehensive analysis of publications in the JISSS vis-a-vis leading journals in theworld. For improving the visibility of its Journal and enhancing the quality of the papers published in the JISSS, it wasdecided that the editor may scrutinize the manuscript carefully before assigning to a reviewer. Editors may givecomplete comments at one time only, no fresh comments at second time. Members of ISSS are requested to cite thereferences of JISSS in their paper.

LINKS WITH THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF SOIL SCIENCESThe Indian Society of Soil Science is Full Member in the Category of Nations in Development. Society’s subscriptionto the IUSS has been sent for the current year.

CHAPTER ACTIVITIESMost of the Chapters of the Society located at Annamalainagar, Akola, Allahabad, Anand, Bangalore, Bapatla, Bhopal,Bichpuri (Agra), Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Dantiwada, Dapoli, Delhi, Dharwad, Faizabad, Gwalior, Hisar,Hyderabad, Indore, Imphal, Jabalpur, Jammu, Jobner, Jodhpur, Jorhat, Kalyani, Kanpur, Karnal, Killikulum, Kolkata,Kota, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Modipuram, Nagpur, Navasari, Palampur, Pantnagar, Parbhani, Pusa (Bihar), Rahuri, Raipur,Ranchi, Sabour, Shillong, Shimoga, Sopore, Sriniketan, Thrissur, Tirupati, Udaipur and Varanasi remained active inpromoting the aims and objectives of the Society by organizing conferences, meetings, seminars, group discussions,special lectures, etc. A number of Chapters are bringing out Newsletters periodically and also the Annual Reports.Following an encouraging response during the previous years, Chapters of ISSS were invited to display in the form ofposters their activities of the preceeding one year. These posters remained on display on 27-30 November 2018 withone of the Chapter representatives available for discussion for a limited time fixed each day. The Chapters participatedin this programme were: Anand, Bhopal, Delhi, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Ranchi and Sriniketan. Posterpresentations were informative, interesting and well laid-out. Visitors appreciated the efforts of the Chapters. Invitationto the Chapters has also been extended this year.

Memorial Lectures: Following chapters who were assigned the responsibility of organizing the different lectures did/are doing a commendable job in organizing these lectures as is evident from the following table.

Memorial lecture Organizing chapter Speaker Delivered on/to be delivered

Dr. SP Raychaudhuri Kolkata Dr. A.K. Biswas 27-09-2019Dr. DP Motiramani Coimbatore Dr. P. Sureshkumar 27-09-2019Dr. BV Mehta Modipuram Dr. S.S. Mukhopadhyay 19-10-2019Dr. NS Randhawa Hisar Dr. R.S. Antil 21-09-2019Dr. RS Murthy Dapoli Dr. A.S. Dhawan 11-10-2019Dr. RR Agarwal Bangalore Dr. D. Damodar Reddy 20-09-2019Dr. TD Biswas Gwalior Dr. V.K. Kharche 28-09-2019Prof. SK Mukherjee Bhubaneswar Dr. G.K. Ghosh 24-09-2019Dr. GS Sekhon Rahuri Dr. K.S. Reddy 04-10-2019Dr. NP Datta Faizabad Dr. D.K. Sharma 19-10-2019Dr. S.N. Saxena Sabour Dr. S.K. Chaudhari 11-11-2019

ISSS Best Doctoral Research Presentation Award: During 2019 the first round of this contest was organized inSouth Zone by Hyderabad Chapter on 11 October 2019, East Zone by Kalyani Chapter on 25 September, 2019;West Zone by Akola Chapter on 11 October 2019 and North Zone by Delhi Chapter on 16 October, 2019.

Zonal Award Contests: The ISSS Zonal Award Contests were organized for the East, West, North and South Zonesat Kalyani, Akola, Delhi and Hyderabad, respectively.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSincere thanks are placed on record to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for the grant of financial support ofRs 200,000/- for the publication of Journal of the Society and Rs. 5,00,000/- for organizing the Convention in Anand.Help and support extended by the Anand Chapter of ISSS and Anand Agricultural University, Anand in organizing the83rd Annual Convention of ISSS are gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of various kinds received for the smoothand effective functioning of the Society from its members and a large number of institutes, organizations, associationsand individuals are gratefully acknowledged.

INDIAN SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE

BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR 2020-2021

RECEIPT AMOUNT (Rs) EXPENDITURE AMOUNT (Rs)

Membership subscription 13,00,000 Publication of Journal 4,00,000Journal subscription 7,50,000 Publication of miscellaneous 50,000Sale of publications 5,00,000 Postal expenses 1,50,000ICAR Grant 2,00,000 Establishment (Salary) 10,50,000Interest & Dividends 4,00,000 Stationery 70,000Revenue from Annual Convention 2,00,000 Audit Fee 25,000

Telephone, Fax & Internet 40,000Conveyance (Local Travelling) 17,000Contingency (Staff welfare) 7,000Annual Convention 2,00,000Awards & Fellowship- Honorary Member 20,000- Platinum Jubilee 20,000- Fellowship 20,000- 12th International 10,000- Golden Jubilee 10,000- Dr. J.S.P. Yadav Memorial Award 10,000- Zonal/ISSS Best Doctoral Presentation Award 40,000- Prof. Sant Singh Memorial Award 10,000- Dr. S.P. Raychaudhuri Gold Medal 5,000Dr. S.P. Raychaudhuri Memorial Lecture 10,000Prof. J.N. Mukherjee-ISSS Foundation Lecture 10,000Dr. R.V. Tamhane Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. D.P. Motiramani Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. B.V. Mehta Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. N.S. Randhawa Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. R.S. Murthy Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. R.R. Agarwal Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. T.D. Biswas Memorial Lecture 10,000Prof. S.K. Mukherjee Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. G.S. Sekhon Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. N.P. Datta Memorial Lecture 10,000Dr. S.N. Saxena Memorial Lecture 10,000TA to Office-Bearers 45,000TA to Past-Presidents 50,000Publication of Bulletin 25,000Council Meetings including TA 4,50,000Office Rental & Maintenance 2,00,000IUSS Membership 1,50,000Website Development and Maintenance 1,50,000Printing of Circular for International Conference 50,000

Total 33,50,000 Total 34,04,000