Lok Sabha Question No. 4514 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-08
Subject: Soil Testing Labs
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: RAM KUMAR SHARMA KUSHWAHA

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4514

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 8 TH   JANUARY, 2019

## SOIL TESTING  LABS

4514.     SHRI  RAM  KUMAR SHARMA:

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

- (a) whether    the    Government    has  formulated    any    scheme    for    increasing    yields    by making  arrangements  for  soil testing of farms in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether appropriate arrangements have been made for the soil testing; and
- (d) if so, the number of soil testing laboratories functioning in the country as on March 2018, State-wise?

## 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) & (b): 'Soil Health Card' (SHC) scheme has been launched since 2015 to provide Soil health cards to all the farmers in the country every 2 years. Soil health card provides information to farmers on nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving crop productivity and soil fertility.  In the 1 st Cycle (2015-16 & 2016-17), 10.74 crore soil health cards were distributed to farmers and in the 2 nd Cycle (201718 & 2018-19),  against the target of 12.04 crore soil health cards, 7.23 crore soil health cards have been distributed  by State Governments / UTs to farmers as on 01.01.2019.
- (c)  & (d): Government has been providing financial assistance to States for setting up of soil testing laboratories according to their requirement.  State-wise number of various types of soil testing laboratories functioning in the country as on March, 2018 is given in Annexure.

## State-wise number of Soil Testing Laboratories functioning in the country as on March, 2018

| S.No   | States            |   Static STLs |   Mobile STLs |   Mini STLs |   Total |
|--------|-------------------|---------------|---------------|-------------|---------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    |            82 |            15 |        1328 |    1425 |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh |             5 |             3 |           0 |       8 |
| 3      | Assam             |             9 |             6 |         200 |     215 |
| 4      | Bihar             |            39 |             6 |           0 |      45 |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh      |            28 |             5 |         111 |     144 |
| 6      | Delhi             |             1 |             0 |           0 |       1 |
| 7      | Goa               |             3 |             1 |           0 |       4 |
| 8      | Gujarat           |           136 |             5 |         230 |     371 |
| 9      | Haryana           |            38 |             3 |          50 |      91 |
| 10     | Himachal Pradesh  |            11 |            10 |          69 |      90 |
| 11     | J&K               |            13 |            11 |           0 |      24 |
| 12     | Jharkhand         |             8 |             0 |        1300 |    1308 |
| 13     | Karnataka         |            68 |             3 |           6 |      77 |
| 14     | Kerala            |            15 |            13 |         152 |     180 |
| 15     | Madhya Pradesh    |           317 |            21 |         626 |     964 |
| 16     | Maharashtra       |           169 |            37 |        1318 |    1524 |
| 17     | Manipur           |             4 |             4 |           0 |       8 |
| 18     | Meghalaya         |             3 |             3 |           8 |      14 |
| 19     | Mizoram           |             3 |             3 |           0 |       6 |
| 20     | Nagaland          |             4 |             0 |           0 |       4 |
| 21     | Odisha            |            22 |            20 |           0 |      42 |
| 22     | Puducherry        |             2 |             0 |           0 |       2 |
| 23     | Punjab            |            56 |            15 |         128 |     199 |
| 24     | Rajasthan         |            90 |            24 |           0 |     114 |
| 25     | Sikkim            |             4 |             2 |           0 |       6 |
| 26     | Tamil Nadu        |            32 |            17 |           0 |      49 |
| 27     | Telengana         |             0 |             3 |        2050 |    2053 |
| 28     | Tripura           |             3 |             6 |         100 |     109 |
| 29     | Uttar Pradesh     |           260 |            31 |           0 |     291 |
| 30     | Uttarakhand       |            13 |             3 |           0 |      16 |
| 31     | West Bengal       |            22 |            14 |           0 |      36 |
| 32     | ICAR              |             0 |             0 |        1076 |    1076 |
|        | Total             |          1460 |           284 |        8752 |   10496 |

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