Lok Sabha Question No. 535 (STARRED), answered on 2017-04-11
Subject: Modern Infrastructure for Soil Testing
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: OM BIRLA, KIRRON KHER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION & FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 535

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 TH  APRIL, 2017

## MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SOIL TESTING

- *535.      SHRI OM BIRLA: SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER:
- Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to provide state-of-the-art/advanced infrastructure  and  equipment  to  enhance  the  performance  and  capacity  of  soil  testing laboratories in the country and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the  Government  has observed  any reduction in  excessive  use  of  urea  in States like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan since issuance of soil health cards and testing of soil by the laboratories therein and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether paucity  of funds  has  been  reported  in  the  implementation  of  the  scheme and if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard; and the details of the funds spent on Soil Health Cards as against funds allocated during
- (d) the last three years and the current year, State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè

(SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  535 DUE FOR REPLY ON 11 TH  APRIL, 2017.

- (a): Government is providing financial assistance to State Governments for setting up new soil testing laboratories and strengthening of existing laboratories. The project cost for  a  new  Static  or  Mobile  laboratory  is  Rs.  75  lakhs.  The  project  cost  for  a  mini  soil testing  laboratory  is  Rs.  86,000  +  applicable  tax.  The  norm  for  financial  assistance  for strengthening  an  existing  static  soil  testing  laboratory  is  Rs  40  lakhs.  The  funding  is shared  between  Government  of  India  and  State  Governments  in  the  ratio  of  90:10  for North Eastern & Himalayan States and 60:40 for other States.
- (b): Consumption  of  urea  in  Haryana  has  shown  a  reduction  from  339.84  kg/  ha  in 2014-15  to  330.93  kg  per  hectare  in  2015-16.  Consumption  of  urea  in  Punjab  and Rajasthan have shown a rising trend. However, the average consumption of urea in the country has shown a reduction from 152.53 kg/ ha in 2014-15 to 149.61 kg/ ha in 201516. A statement on per hectare consumption of urea is placed at Annexure-I.
- (c) & (d): There  is  no  paucity  of  funds  in  the  implementation  of  the  Scheme.  A Statement on funds allocated and released to States during the last three years under Soil Health Card Scheme is given at Annexure-II.

Annexure-I State-wise Consumption of UREA and Per-hectare Consumption of UREA  fertilizers

|           |                    | 2013-14                 | 2013-14                 | 2014-15                | 2014-15                 | 2015-16                | 2015-16                 |
|-----------|--------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------|
| S.No.     | State/U.T.         | Consumption '000 tonnes | Per hec Consumption Kgs | Consumption 000 tonnes | Per hec Consumption Kgs | Consumption 000 tonnes | Per hec Consumption Kgs |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh     | 1806.27                 | 223.35                  | 1674.72                | 228.48                  | 1547.25                | 205.64                  |
| 2         | Telangana          | 1680.72                 | 267.31                  | 1366.93                | 268.65                  | 1253.29                | 256.05                  |
| 3         | Karnataka          | 1479.19                 | 139.47                  | 1532.60                | 147.37                  | 1462.81                | 143.80                  |
| 4         | Kerala             | 174.93                  | 33.93                   | 158.79                 | 30.73                   | 175.61                 | 33.63                   |
| 5         | Tamil Nadu         | 911.95                  | 144.43                  | 990.82                 | 159.80                  | 1117.57                | 171.09                  |
| 6         | puducherry         | 21.87                   | 547.71                  | 14.66                  | 360.73                  | 13.03                  | 327.55                  |
| 7         | A&N Islands        | 0.59                    | 13.01                   | 0.58                   | 14.80                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                    |
| 8         | Lakshadweep        | 0.00                    |                         | 0.00                   |                         | 0.00                   |                         |
|           | SZ TOTAL           | 6,075.52                | 166.29                  | 5,739.10               | 167.49                  | 5,569.56               | 161.80                  |
| 9         | Gujarat            | 2144.87                 | 163.97                  | 2236.97                | 176.39                  | 2022.65                | 166.03                  |
| 10        | Madhya Pradesh     | 2223.53                 | 96.82                   | 2017.28                | 87.75                   | 2240.58                | 95.24                   |
| 11        | Chhattisgarh       | 651.07                  | 99.15                   | 675.75                 | 102.77                  | 712.36                 | 111.85                  |
| 12        | Maharashtra        | 2655.43                 | 112.25                  | 2590.33                | 115.59                  | 2299.59                | 103.35                  |
| 13        | Rajasthan          | 1828.92                 | 69.82                   | 1830.54                | 76.82                   | 1993.89                | 80.19                   |
| 14        | Goa                | 4.73                    | 48.50                   | 3.56                   | 36.90                   | 3.59                   | 36.41                   |
| 15        | Daman & Diu        | 0.15                    | 48.54                   | 0.28                   | 66.67                   | 0.28                   | 71.98                   |
| 16        | D&N Haveli         | 0.85                    |                         | 0.99                   | 62.26                   | 0.96                   | 61.15                   |
|           | WZ TOTAL           | 9,509.55                | 102.73                  | 9,355.70               | 105.59                  | 9,273.90               | 103.84                  |
| 17        | Haryana            | 1907.18                 | 338.84                  | 1999.95                | 339.84                  | 2022.97                | 330.93                  |
| 18        | Punjab             | 2690.54                 | 344.57                  | 2673.50                | 354.02                  | 2800.00                | 358.11                  |
| 19        | Uttar Pradesh      | 5805.42                 | 209.13                  | 6080.66                | 214.16                  | 5431.34                | 199.70                  |
| 20        | Uttarakhand        | 274.63                  | 276.91                  | 279.66                 | 262.55                  | 352.68                 | 296.58                  |
| 21 22 J & | Himachal Pradesh K | 63.69 124.38            | 65.16                   | 69.59 115.93           | 70.77                   | 68.90 154.84           | 69.96 80.80             |
| 23        | Delhi              | 7.38                    | 151.63                  | 9.09                   | 87.24                   | 10.79                  | 111.37                  |
| 24        | Chandigarh         | 0.00                    |                         | 0.00                   |                         | 0.00                   |                         |
|           | NZ TOTAL           | 10,873.22               | 251.61                  | 11,228.38              | 255.29                  | 10,841.52              | 239.24                  |
| 25        | Bihar              | 1870.64                 | 253.85                  | 1940.40                | 257.51                  | 2,358.06               | 306.02                  |
| 26        | Jharkhand          | 162.56                  | 57.99                   | 180.18                 | 60.35                   | 220.01                 | 70.90                   |
| 27        | Odisha             | 532.18                  | 91.37                   | 505.99                 | 58.23                   | 538.18                 | 64.86                   |
| 28        | West Bengal        | 1238.74                 | 129.28                  | 1312.34                | 135.01                  | 1,438.00               | 154.73                  |
|           | EZ TOTAL           | 3,804.12                | 148.72                  | 3,938.91               | 136.15                  | 4,554.25               | 160.36                  |
| 29        | Assam              | 281.51                  | 111.71                  | 299.53                 | 94.34                   | 348.99                 | 64.42                   |
| 30        | Tripura            | 20.17                   | 93.31                   | 16.75                  | 36.01                   | 19.92                  | 38.44                   |
| 31        | Manipur            | 17.14                   | 73.33                   | 22.41                  | 65.85                   | 20.62                  | 57.98 0.00              |
| 32        | Meghalaya          | 7.20                    | 70.27                   | 0.28                   | 2.50                    | 0.00                   | 4.31                    |
| 33        | Nagaland           | 1.61                    | 4.84                    | 1.71                   | 4.17                    | 1.82                   |                         |
| 34        | Arunachal Pr.      | 0.97                    | 5.82                    | 0.97                   | 3.58                    | 0.69                   | 2.55                    |
| 35        | Mizoram            | 9.47                    |                         | 6.23                   | 49.06                   | 3.50                   | 27.43                   |
| 36        | Sikkim             | 0.00                    |                         | 0.00                   |                         | 0.00                   |                         |
|           | NE TOTAL           | 338.07                  | 94.65                   | 347.88                 | 70.99                   | 395.54                 | 54.12                   |
| ALL       | INDIA              | 30,600.48               | 151.89                  | 30,609.97              | 152.53                  | 30,634.77              | 149.61                  |

Annexure-II Statement on State-wise fund allocation and Releases under Soil Health Card  Scheme

(fig in Rs lakh)

| Sl   | State             | 2014-15   | 2015-16    | 2015-16   | 2016-17    | 2016-17   |
|------|-------------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|
| No   |                   | Released  | Allocation | Released  | Allocation | Released  |
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh    | 124.08    | 706.09     | 457.75    | 1394.47    | 1394.47   |
| 2    | Arunachal Pradesh | 12.23     | 30.24      | 17.18     | 49.82      | 37.37     |
| 3    | Assam             | 50.85     | 253.19     | 142.07    | 618.94     | 365.03    |
| 4    | Bihar             | 253.39    | 673.50     | 488.17    | 1288.75    | 0.00      |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh      | 66.04     | 383.43     | 281.03    | 685.43     | 342.72    |
| 6    | Goa               | 11.51     | 16.57      | 12.42     | 18.78      | 0.00      |
| 7    | Gujarat           | 80.76     | 835.50     | 603.46    | 1057.38    | 528.69    |
| 8    | Haryana           | 34.13     | 400.67     | 288.22    | 440.31     | 0.00      |
| 9    | Himachal Pradesh  | 24.08     | 70.55      | 47.34     | 58.84      | 29.42     |
| 10   | J & K             | 31.79     | 141.22     | 77.16     | 325.89     | 0.00      |
| 11   | Jharkhand         | 50.69     | 73.25      | 53.97     | 128.35     | 64.18     |
| 12   | Karnataka         | 127.02    | 894.06     | 650.25    | 2059.61    | 1029.80   |
| 13   | Kerala            | 112.62    | 82.56      | 60.93     | 131.77     | 0.00      |
| 14   | Madhya Pradesh    | 142.86    | 1228.13    | 888.05    | 2747.08    | 1373.54   |
| 15   | Maharashtra       | 215.96    | 1284.83    | 932.30    | 2430.13    | 1910.73   |
| 16   | Manipur           | 12.80     | 30.91      | 17.58     | 63.47      | 0.00      |
| 17   | Meghalaya         | 13.62     | 36.45      | 20.60     | 43.44      | 0.00      |
| 18   | Mizoram           | 11.98     | 23.93      | 13.79     | 36.04      | 6.15      |
| 19   | Nagaland          | 13.18     | 40.01      | 22.46     | 73.82      | 0.00      |
| 20   | Odisha            | 80.23     | 371.35     | 269.89    | 608.96     | 304.48    |
| 21   | Punjab            | 25.81     | 424.02     | 304.98    | 958.42     | 0.00      |
| 22   | Rajasthan         | 143.42    | 1212.62    | 875.79    | 2216.58    | 1108.29   |
| 23   | Sikkim            | 11.75     | 20.29      | 11.81     | 25.23      | 0.00      |
| 24   | Tamil Nadu        | 131.91    | 652.14     | 469.51    | 1289.84    | 644.92    |
| 25   | Telengana         | 93.48     | 544.04     | 352.92    | 936.50     | 468.25    |
| 26   | Tripura           | 18.38     | 40.38      | 22.71     | 78.95      | 59.21     |
| 27   | Uttar Pradesh     | 354.47    | 2386.50    | 1716.42   | 4884.09    | 2442.05   |
| 28   | Uttarakhand       | 23.40     | 119.02     | 65.19     | 235.56     | 144.70    |
| 29   | West Bengal       | 117.14    | 666.70     | 480.12    | 1459.95    | 1094.96   |
|      | Total             | 2389.58   | 13642.15   | 9644.07   | 26346.40   | 13348.94  |

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