Lok Sabha Question No. 657 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-19
Subject: Soil Testing Labs
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: ANURAG SINGH THAKUR

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.657

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  19 TH  DECEMBER, 2017

## SOIL TESTING LABS

## 657.   SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE   ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  testing  labs  available  for  Soil  Health  Card  across  the  country,  Statewise;
- (b) the extent to which the farmers have saved the capital as a result of using Soil Health Card in the country;
- (c) whether the Government is working towards digitizing the cards and updating them on time and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  there  exists  any  standard  operating  practices  for  labs  for  storage  of  soil samples and their analysis and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान  कयाण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã  ½ãñâ  Àã·¾ã  ½ãâ¨ããè (  SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a): State-wise number of STLs are given in the annexure.
- (b): As  per  study  conducted  by  National  Productivity  Council  (NPC),  application  of fertilizer and micronutrients based on Soil Health Card recommendations resulted in 8-10% of  fertilizer  savings.  There is  overall increase  in  the  yield  of crops  to  the  tune  of  5-6%  by adopting SHC recommendations.

Impact  study  conducted  by  MANAGE,  Hyderabad  indicated  there  is  reduction  in Nitrogen based fertilizers and increase in bio-fertilizer and micro-nutrient use.

- (c): For  digitizing  the  Soil  Health  Cards,  Web  based  work  flow  application  Soil  Health Card portal has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). The Soil  Health  Card  Portal  (Http://soilhealth.dac.gov.in)  facilitates  generation  of  Soil  Health Cards for  the  benefit  of  farmers  in  uniform  and  standardized  format  across  country  in  all major languages and 5 dialects.
- (d): As per standard operating procedure, soil samples are registered online in labs and given  soil  sample  unique  number  and  stored.  The  samples  are  to  be  analyzed  for  12

parameters namely,  N,P,K (Macro-nutrients); S (Secondary-nutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micor-nurients; and PH, EC, OC (Physical Parameteres).

Annexure State-wise Soil Testing Labs available for Soil Health Card Scheme

| Sl.   | Name of        | No of Soil Testing Laboratories   | No of Soil Testing Laboratories   | No of Soil Testing Laboratories   |          |
|-------|----------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|----------|
| No    | State          |                                   |                                   |                                   | Total No |
| I     | South Zone     |                                   |                                   |                                   |          |
| 1     | Andhra Pr.     | 82                                | 15                                | 1328                              | 1425     |
| 2     | Karnataka      | 68                                | 3                                 | 6                                 | 77       |
| 3     | Kerala         | 15                                | 11                                | 152                               | 178      |
| 4     | Tamil Nadu     | 32                                | 17                                | 0                                 | 49       |
| 5     | Puducherry     | 2                                 | 0                                 | 0                                 | 2        |
|       | Telangana      | 31                                | 19                                | 2050                              | 2100     |
|       | Total          | 199                               | 65                                | 3536                              | 3800     |
| II.   | West Zone      | 0                                 |                                   |                                   | 0        |
| 6     | Gujarat        | 136                               | 3                                 | 230                               | 369      |
| 7     | Madhya Pr.     | 317                               | 11                                | 626                               | 954      |
| 8     | Maharashtra    | 169                               | 37                                | 1318                              | 1524     |
| 9     | Rajasthan      | 90                                | 24                                | 0                                 | 114      |
| 10    | Chhattisgarh   | 28                                | 5                                 | 111                               | 144      |
| 11    | Goa            | 3                                 | 1                                 | 0                                 | 4        |
|       | Total          | 743                               | 81                                | 2285                              | 3109     |
| III   | North Zone     | 0                                 |                                   |                                   | 0        |
| 12    | Haryana        | 38                                | 3                                 | 50                                | 91       |
| 13    | Punjab         | 56                                | 15                                | 0                                 | 71       |
| 14    | Uttarakhand    | 13                                | 3                                 | 0                                 | 16       |
| 15    | Uttar Pradesh  | 260                               | 31                                | 0                                 | 291      |
| 16    | Himachal Pr.   | 11                                | 10                                | 69                                | 90       |
| 17    | Jammu &Kashmir | 13                                | 11                                | 0                                 | 24       |
| 18    | Delhi          | 1                                 | 0                                 | 0                                 | 1        |
|       | Total          | 392                               | 73                                | 119                               | 584      |
| IV    | East Zone      |                                   |                                   |                                   | 0        |
| 19    | Bihar          | 39                                | 6                                 | 0                                 | 45       |
| 20    | Jharkhand      | 8                                 | 0                                 | 1300                              | 1308     |
| 21    | Orissa         | 21                                | 12                                | 0                                 | 33       |
| 22    | West Bengal    | 22                                | 14                                | 0                                 | 36       |
|       | Total          | 90                                | 32                                | 1300                              | 1422     |
| V     | NE Zone        | 0                                 |                                   |                                   | 0        |
| 23    | Assam          | 9                                 | 4                                 | 200                               | 213      |
| 24    | Tripura        | 3                                 | 6                                 | 100                               | 109      |
| 25    | Manipur        | 4                                 | 4                                 | 0                                 | 8        |
| 26    | Meghalaya      | 3                                 | 3                                 | 8                                 | 14       |
| 27    | Nagaland       | 4                                 | 0                                 | 0                                 | 4        |
| 28    | Arunachal Pr.  | 5                                 | 3                                 | 0                                 | 8        |
| 29    | Sikkim         | 4                                 | 2                                 | 0                                 | 6        |
| 30    | Mizoram        | 3                                 | 3                                 | 0                                 | 6        |
|       | Total          | 35                                | 25                                | 308                               | 368      |
|       | Grand Total    | 1459                              | 276                               | 7548                              | 9283     |

Note : In addition  1076 Mini Soil Testing Labs have been provided to KVKs of Indian Council of Agricultural Research

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