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INDEX

Serial No. Title Page No.

1. Introduction 2
2. Pesticides 3
3. Statement of purpose 4
4. Draft 5
5 A layer to save the soil 8
6. Conclusion 14
7. Bibliography 15
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INTRODUCTION

SOIL:

It consists of four major components: air, water, organic and mineral matter . The
mineral and organic matter fractions of the soil are the solids and serve as the
storehouse and exchange sites for plant nutrients and other chemicals. They are
important from a fertility and environmental standpoint. It is these fractions, along
with cultural practices, that influence other physical properties and processes.
Healthy soils are essential for healthy plant growth, human nutrition, and
water filtration. Healthy soil supports a landscape that is more resilient to the
impacts of drought, flood, or fire. Soil helps to regulate the Earth’s climate and
stores more carbon than all of the world’s forests combined. Healthy soils are
fundamental to our survival.
Here we are going investigate, if adding an another layer to the soil,
can protect it from pesticides . The lower layer is a coconut husk layer and the
upper layer is a paper layer.

PESTICIDES -
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● Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes
herbicide, insecticide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal
repellent, microbicide, etc .
● The most common of these are herbicides which account for approximately
80% of all pesticide use.
● Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying,
or controlling any pest, unwanted species of plants or animals, causing harm
during or otherwise interfering with the production.
● The term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator,
defoliant, desiccant, or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature
fall of fruit. Also used as substances applied to crops either before or after
harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and
transport.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

● Soil is an important source for living and is wrongly manipulated , hence it

is important to protect such a vulnerable resource .
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● Soil is the main key of agriculture or in a way it’s impossible to cultivate

without soil .
● But the world we are living in , our way of using it and the chemicals for
more healthy cultivation, makes the soil even more at risk .
● It's not an unnecessary process because the world is not only growing with
population but also with their requirements too.
● To increase the agricultural output , these chemicals become
a necessity but these chemicals later could cause famine or desertification of
grassland .
● All of these suggest that most of these chemicals are absorbed by the shoot
part of the plant and not by the roots , so there is no need for the pesticides to
land on the soil .

DRAFT

➡️The actual plan was to replace the soil completely with paper and the
first aim was to check whether the plant actually grows on it.

AIM :
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To replace the soil with paper to grow plants on a very small scale.
If this project is a success it will help the soil to regain its fertility in the meantime.

MATERIALS :
• Waste plastic box - to act as our small scale field , used papers , Fenugreek
seeds.

PROCEDURE :
1. Tear the papers into small pieces and soak them for 12-15 hours.
2. Since we are using fenugreek for the activity , soak the fenugreek
seeds in wet cloth and let it germinate for 8-10 hours.
3. Crush the papers and give it a mushy texture .
4. Dry the mushed papers for a few hours.
5. Take a box and make 5-6 holes for the water to move out .
6. Put the crushed paper in the box like we do it with soil.
7. Plant the seeds and check the progress everyday.

OBSERVATION:
● Plants survived even on the layer of paper.
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REASON:
• Fenugreek seed doesn't require mineral rich soil. We tried to grow fenugreek
plants on paper and it survived .
• But as we know paper doesn't provide the required minerals and nutrients , so we
can't grow other crops that need mineral rich soil.

CONCLUSION: As we know fenugreek doesn't need mineral rich soil to survive

on paper, so we can conclude that paper can replace soil for plants like fenugreek.

DISCUSSION:
• There are many other plants that need certain minerals and nutrients which are
only present in soil , so paper cannot completely replace soil but can be used as a
layer over the soil. And the above done activity can be used to grow small scale
plantations like kitchen gardens.
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A LAYER TO SAVE THE SOIL

OBJECTIVE:
● To protect the soil from harmful pesticides by adding a layer.
● To check whether the plant grows equally in both the below shown
cases.
● To compare the concentration of chemicals in the soil using pH paper
in both the below shown cases after it is applied on the plant.
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NECESSITY:
• Soil is the main key of agriculture or soil makes agricultural activities possible, it
makes the soil more important and needed .
• But in the world we are living in makes the soil a vulnerable matter, due to the
use of chemicals for making them more fertile and more fruitful.
• It's also not an unnecessary process , because the world is not only growing with
requirements but it also is growing with people.
• To increase the output these chemicals become a necessity which later can cause
destruction or desertification.
• Not only the soil but the chemicals used also affect the water bodies , the
groundwater to be specific .
• But on the other hand we really need these chemicals for proper and healthy
productivity .
• So in this project we have found a way through which we can protect the soil
such that the chemicals required can be used without harming the soil.
• Here we are going to use paper and coconut husk as the protective layer .
• The coconut husk will act as a secondary filtrate towards the chemical.

MATERIAL REQUIRED:
● Waste plastic box - to act as our small scale field , used papers , plant seed,
coconut husk, beaker , pH paper , test tubes, spatula.

PROCESS:
1. Here we are going to use some pots to illustrate how it works .
2. First start with putting soil to your pot, add a coconut husk layer and a paper
layer above it .
3. Use your chemicals required for the plant you have grown.
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4. Now check the concentration of chemicals in soil without the layers and the one
with layers and compare the results.

PROCEDURE:
• Use the containers as a mini-field.
• Fill it half with soil and fill the other completely with soil.

• Now work on the husk and paper.

• Tear papers into small pieces and soak them for 12-36 hrs (the time span will
change with quantity of water and paper).
• Mash the paper and soften them.
• Dry the mushed papers for a few hours.

• Take the containers and make 5-6 holes for the water to move out .
• Make the husk into thin sheets and spread it on the surface of soil .
• Now put the mashed paper evenly on the surface of the husk.
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• Now put an ample amount of chemicals (pesticides or insecticides as per the

number of plants .)
• Test the soil and note down the observation .

OBSERVATION :
1. The plants have grown equally in both the pots

Day-1 - when the saplings started appearing

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3 Days later 2 Weeks later

2.The soil with the paper-husk layer had less concentration of chemical applied.

a. b.
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c.

d.

OBSERVATION TABLE

Serial Observations Soil without paper Soil with paper layer

No. layer
1. growth of the plant
in 2 weeks 8cm 8cm
(average)
2. pH of soil before
applying the 7-8 7-8
chemical
3. pH of soil after
applying the 8-9 7-8
chemical

CONCLUSION
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● These additional layers do not disturb the growth of the plant .

● Plants grow equally healthily in both the pots.
● Our aim to protect the soil completely from the chemical was not obtained,
but the concentration of chemical applied in the soil with paper-husk layers
was lesser than that of the soil without the layer.
● This project is a success as the soil is ‘to some extent’ protected from the
chemical used , this can be done in a large scale for the cultivation of floral
plants, for growing tree saplings and with addition to this it also can be done
in kitchen gardens and parks etc.
● We chose the paper layer as a solution because some of the surveys found
that out of all wasted papers only 20% of them are recycled and the rest are
being dumped , instead of dumping them the government can channelise it
towards using it in this way .
● The coconut husk used here as an additional layer , helps the plants to retain
moisture and they are resistant to fungal growth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. en.m.wikipedia.org
2. www.google.co.in
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3. www.falmouthme.org
4. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
5. www.niehs.nih.gov
6. www.biologicaldiversity.org
7. npic.orst.edu
8. extension.psu.edu
9. passel2.unl.edu