This document provides a profile of the Soil and Water Research Institute Laboratory in Iran. It summarizes that the laboratory was established in 1956 and currently has 25 staff members with various qualifications. The laboratory performs around 7,000-10,000 soil analyses, 2,000-3,000 fertilizer analyses, and 1,500-2,000 plant analyses annually. It is responsible for developing and revising soil, plant, water, and fertilizer analysis methods, providing training workshops to public and private laboratories, and implementing a quality control program for laboratories in Iran. Current priorities include achieving ISO 17025 implementation and developing low-cost, rapid, and accurate analysis methods.

1. Laboratory of Soil and Water Research Institute
Iran
Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI),
Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO)
Email: kshahbazi@swri.ir
Karim Shahbazi
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2. Laboratory profile
Department of Laboratories of SWRI
(established in 1956)
Goverment Soil & plant laboratories have been developed during 60 past years (31 labs)
private soil & plant laboratories have been developed from 1992 (160 labs)
Soil Laboratories Network of Iran
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3. Laboratory profile
Facilities Notes
Surface area of the
laboratory (in m2)
982 8 labs, 3 sample preparation rooms(Soil, fertilizer
and plant), department and staff offices (6)
Number of rooms in the
laboratory
8
labs
Soil physics lab, Soil Chemistry and water lab,
Fertilizer analysis lab, Plant analysis lab and 3
instrumental analysis labs, Soil biology lab.
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4. Laboratory profile
Staff Notes
Number of laboratory staff 25
Qualification of laboratory
staff (e.g. university degree)
21
4 faculty members with PhD degrees, 14 experts
with Master Degree, 3 experts with Bachelor
Degree
Is laboratory staff regularly
trained? If yes, how often?
Yes
Every year we hold specialized courses for
experts. Such as: laboratory safety training,
training of instrumental analysis
(ICP/AAS/HPLC,…), training of analysis methods.
We also send our experts outside the institute
for specialized laboratory training.
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5. Functions and Responsibilities
Analysis performed Number of samples
analysed per year
Notes
Soil 7000-10000 Chemical, Physical and Biological
fertilizer 2000-3000 All types of fertilizer, Beneficial
substances (including biostimulants) and
soil conditioner
Plant 1500-2000
Water 300-500
Soil, plant, water and fertilizer Analysis
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Soil chemical analysis: pH, EC, OC, CCE, CEC, Gypsum, K, P,Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, B, Mo, Si (Soluble, Available, Total), Heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Co,…) and etc.
Soil physical analysis: Soil texture, Bulk density, Particle density, FC, PWP, Aggregate stability, Saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil-water characteristic curve ,…..
Soil biological analysis: soil microbial biomass, soil microbial respiration, Thiobacillus count, Rhizobia count, Azotobacter count, Azospirillum count, acid phosphatase, ….
Fertilizer analysis: N, P, K(total, available, soluble), Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu (soluble, chelate, total), Mg. Ca, Si, S, Humic Acid, Fulvic Acid, amino acid, heavy metals,…
Plant analysis: N. P. K. Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Mg, Ca, S, NO3, heavy metals, ….
Water analysis: pH, EC, TDS, TSS, Na, Cl, CO3, HCO3, NO3, NH4, B,…..

6. Functions and Responsibilities
 Research on development, expansion and advancement, implementation
and revising of Soil, Plant, Water and Fertilizer analysis methods and
publish them (scientific members, R&D experts …).
Selected Publications:
1968 Methods of soil analysis
1969 Plant Sampling
1970 Soil sampling
1971 Methods of fertilizer and manure analysis
1972 Methods soil chemical and physical analysis
1973 Methods of soil microbiological analysis
1974 Methods of soil physical analysis
1975 Methods of fertilizer analysis
1976 Methods of soil chemical analysis (first volume)
1977 Methods of soil chemical analysis (second volume)
2005 Methods of soil physical analysis
2018 Methods of fertilizer analysis
Harmonization of the methods
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7. Functions and Responsibilities
 Workshop and training courses for public and private laboratories
(transfer-exchange knowledge and experience, advancing standards)
Workshop and training courses (2017- 2020)
 High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (2017/01/10-11)
 laboratory safety (2017/11/15)
 Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy(FAAS) (2017/11/13 - 14)
 ISO 17025 (2017/12/25)
 Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy(HGAAS) (2018/07/04)
 Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GFAAS) (2018/07/03)
 Sample preparation (2018/09/12)
 Calculating uncertainty in laboratory measurements (2019/10/02)
 Inductively coupled plasma- optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) (2019/12/25 - 26)
 Quality assurance of test results (2020/01/04)
 Analysis of different types of fertilizers (The 5th workshop) (2020/01/18 - 22)
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8. Functions and Responsibilities
 Quality Control (QC) Program (all Private and Government labs)
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9. Other Services
 Participating in developing national and international
standards (corresponding subcommittee of TC 190
and TC 134)
 Hosting agreement for R&D research fellows,
collaboration between national Foundation Elites and
universities
 Supervising and advising PhD and MSc thesis
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10. Priorities
 Implementation of ISO 17025
 Demonstrate new technology for soil analysis (MIR, NIR, ….)
 Developing of low cost, rapid, reliable, and accurate methods
 Participating in international ring test
 Improve the current system (SW LIMS) to be able to handling national
proficiency test (https://swrilab.ir/)
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11. Thanks for your attention
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