Lok Sabha Question No. 1665 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-06
Subject: Soil Fertility
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: KRISHNAN NARAYANASAMY RAMACHANDRAN, R.K. BHARATHI MOHAN, V. SATHYABAMA, PR. SENTHILNATHAN

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1665

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH   MARCH, 2018

## SOIL FERTILITY

1665.  SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN: SHRI BHARATHI MOHAN R.K.: SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA: SHRI PR. SENTHIL NATHAN:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken/ proposes to take steps to encourage the use of eco friendly  fertilizers  and  pesticides  to  protect  the  soil  fertility  and  to  curb  use  of  hazardous chemicals in agriculture produce and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the prolonged and excessive use of chemicals  and  fertilizers  and  insecticides  have  resulted  in  loss  of  soil  fertility  and  chemical contamination in agriculture produce; and
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  effective  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  protect people from such dangers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a): Government has taken the following steps to encourage the eco-friendly fertilizers and pesticides:-
- (i)          Financial  assistance  is  provided  for  setting  up  of  fruit/  vegetable/  Agro  waste compost production units for a capacity of 3000 TPA production capacity @ 33 percent for farmers / individuals / private agencies of total financial outlay limited to Rs. 63 lakh, whichever is less.    For  the units  to  be  set  up  by  the  State  Governments,  100  percent assistance limited to Rs. 190 lakh per unit.
- (ii)      Financial  assistance  is  provided  for  setting  up  of  Biofertilizer/  Biopesticides production  units  for  a  capacity  of  200  TPA/  50000  LPA    production  capacity  @  25 percent for farmers / individuals / private agencies of total financial outlay limited to Rs. 40 lakh, whichever is less.  For the units to be set up by the State Governments, 100 percent assistance limited to Rs. 160 lakh per unit.
- (iii) Financial assistance is provided for promotion of organic inputs on farmers field (including  manure  ,  vermicompost,  biofertilizers,  compost,  herbal  extracts  etc)  @  50 percent of cost subject to a limit of Rs. 5000/- per hectare or Rs. 10000 per beneficiary.

(iv)      Financial  assistance  is  provided  under  the  component  Integrated  manure management of 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana' (PKVY) for Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (PROM) @ Rs. 1000/- per acre for procuring applications of PROM to soil to meet Phosposous/Zinc deficiency in soil.

(v) Financial assistance is provided for Vermi compost unit of size 7'x3' x1' @ Rs. 5000 per unit .

(vi)      Under  the  Rainfed  Area  Development  (RAD)  component  of  NMSA,  financial assistance is provided for permanent structure vermi bed @ 50 percent of cost subject to limit  of  Rs.  125  per  cubic feet and maximum of Rs. 50000 per unit. Similarly, financial assistance  is  provided  for  High  Density  Polyethhylene  (HDPE)  vermi  bed    up  to  a maximum of Rs. 8000/- per unit.

(vii) Financial Assistance is provided as Market Development Assistance to Fertilizer Companies for sale of City compost @ Rs. 1500/- per MT.

(viii)    Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  developed  technology  to prepare  various  types  of  organic  manures  such  as  Phosphocompost,  Vermi  compost, Bioenriched compost, City compost etc to promote manures/ compost technologies.

(ix)    Under  the  scheme  'Strengthening  and  Modernization  of  Pest  Management Approach' , Farm Field Schools are organized to sensitize farmers on Integrated Pest Management Approach and to use chemical pesticides as a last resort as per approved labels and leaflets.

(b) & (c): There is no harmful effect of chemical fertilizers on soil health with balanced and judicious  use.  However,  imbalanced  use  of  chemical  fertilizers  coupled  with  low  addition  of organic matter over years may cause multinutrient deficiencies vis-à-vis  decline in soil health. The  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research(ICAR)  under  All  India  Coordinated  Research Project  on   'Long-Term  Fertilizer  Experiments'  has  assessed  the  impact  of  long  term  use  of chemical fertilizers in different soil types (fixed locations) under dominant cropping systems. The  investigation over  the  last  few  decades  indicated  that  even  in  NPK  fertilized system, nutritional disorders in terms of deficiency of micro and secondary nutrients surfaced after few years affecting soil health and crop productivity.

Following steps have been taken to avoid excessive use of fertilizers and insecticides:-

(i) Soil Health Card Scheme is being implemented  to assist all State Governments to evaluate fertility in all farm holdings across the country and issue soil health cards to farmers regularly in a cycle of 2 years.  Soil health cards provide information to farmers on  nutrient  status  of  their  soil  along  with  recommendations  on  appropriate  dosage  of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.

(ii)      Government  is  also  implementing  'Strengthening  and  Modernization  of  Pest Management  Approach' scheme wherein, inter-alia, Farmers Field Schools are organized  to  sensitize  farmers  on  Integrated  Pest  management  approach  and  to  use chemical pesticides as a last resort as per approved labels and leaflets.

(iii)          Chemical  free  organic  farming  is  also  being  encouraged  by  Government under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) & Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCDNER).

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