ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science

The Indian Institute of Soil Science (IISS) is an autonomous institute for higher learning established in 1988 under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It aims to promote scientific research on soil sciences and oversees All India Coordinated Research Projects on Soil Test Crop Response Studies, Micronutrients, and Biofertilizers at multiple centres across India. The institute provides training and research facilities in soil testing, nutrient and water efficiency techniques, carbon sequestration, and soil quality assessment, and maintains a 50-hectare research farm along with modern conference and laboratory facilities. IISS is organized into six divisions: Soil Physics, Soil Chemistry and Fertility, Soil Biology, Environmental Soil Science, Statistics and Computer Application Section, and the Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU). It maintains a library with books, journals, and annual reports, and operates a Training and Referral Soil Testing Laboratory. The institute undertakes several long-running research projects, including the Long-Term Fertilizer Experiments (since 1970), the Soil Test Crop Response Project (since 1967), the PCM Project (since 1967), and the All India Network Project on Biofertilizers, which studies soil biodiversity and biofertilizer applications across diverse ecosystems.