The Indian Society of Soil Science (ISSS) came into existence on December 22, 1934 in Calcutta under Act XXI of 1860 (Registration No. 8164/252 of 1934-35) with 28 members. It was formally inaugurated on January 3, 1935 at the Presidency College, Calcutta. Sir Bryce C. Burt, the then Agricultural Commissioner in the Imperial (now Indian) Council of Agricultural Research, was the first President of the Society and Prof. J.N. Mukherjee its first secretary.