Digital soil intelligence, food security in focus at REINSS 2026 seminar at College of Agriculture, Vellayani

Digital soil intelligence - where cutting-edge technology including satellite imagery is used to provide insights on soil health - and sustainable food security are in focus at a two-day international seminar which opened at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, here on Wednesday.

Himanshu Pathak, Director General, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, inaugurated the seminar themed ‘Reinventing Soil Systems: Digital Intelligence, Biomes and Sustainable Food Security’ (REINSS 2026).

Organised by the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, and the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of the Indian Society of Soil Science, REINSS 2026 discusses innovative approaches to soil health, climate resilience, and sustainable food production. The two-day event brings together scientists, researchers and agricultural experts.

Presiding over the inaugural function, T. Sajitha Rani, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists in agronomy, soil science and microbiology for promoting soil restoration and sustainable soil health, particularly in Kerala’s fragile tropical ecosystem.

The scientific deliberations focus on digital soil intelligence, precision agriculture, regenerative farming, soil-plant-microbiome interactions and nature-based solutions for climate resilience, the organisers said.