The National Soil Services Centre (NSSC) of the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in collaboration with the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) of FAO and the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI), has organized a regional training workshop on Soil Information Systems from 9 to 14 June 2025 at Hotel Tashi Yid Wong Grand in Thimphu, Bhutan. The event was a key milestone under the AFACI Soil+ Project, which aimed to support AFACI countries in preparing national soil maps and strengthening their National Soil Information Systems (NSIS) for evidence-based policy and land management decisions. The Hon’ble Minister and senior officials of the MoAL graced the opening session of the workshop.
The main objective of this hands-on training was tobuild capacity of the participants by providing skills, tools and technical guidance to the participants to enable them to build, update and maintain comprehensive national systems that integrate soil databases, metadata catalogues and web-based mapping tools — in alignment with international standards and regional needs.The training was also aimed to foster a professional network of national soil data managers, supporting ongoing collaboration beyond the event itself.
The workshopbrought together 31 participants, including soil and IT experts from 12 AFACI member countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan.
In brief, participants received intensive technical training in:
- Setting up a harmonized national soil database aligned with FAO’s Global Soil Information System (GloSIS);
- Creating spatial metadata catalogues using ISO standards;
- Publishing soil data through OGC-compliant web services and open-source web mapping tools.
Participants also learned to configure their NSIS using real country data, supported by comprehensive training materials and open-source software and tools. These systems are expected to contribute directly to the AFACI regional soil database and to FAO’s GloSIS), enhancing interoperability and data-sharing across the region.
Before conclusion, the participants visited the Soil Museum and the Soil and Plant Analytical Laboratory (SPAL) of the National Soil Services Centre at Semtokha.
Finally, the training concluded by a field visit to Agriculture Research and Development Centre at Bajo under WangduePhodrang Dzongkhag where the participants observed, described and had intensive discussion on soil information based on soil profile pit. The participants also visited Varve Silt deposit site and Punakha Dzong.
The workshop has been a great success. Thanks to all the co-organizers, trainers and the participants from all the AFACI member countries.
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