Lok Sabha Question No. 334 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-17
Subject: Issuance of Soil Health Card
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jadon Chandra Sen

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 334

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE   17 TH  MARCH, 2020

## ISSUANCE OF SOIL HEALTH CARD

## *334.    DR. CHANDRA SEN JADON:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  launched  a  comprehensive  scheme  to  provide  soil health card to all the farmers across the country;
- (b) if so, the norms laid down for issuing soil health card to farmers along with the policy guidelines issued to sustain the fertility of soil;
- (c) the details of the funds allocated for this purpose during the current year, State-wise;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to set up soil testing and research laboratories and mobile soil testing laboratories at various places in the country; and
- (e) if so, whether such laboratories are also proposed to be set up in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(SHRI NARENDRA  SINGH TOMAR) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

- (a) to (e):

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 334  DUE FOR REPLY ON 17 TH     MARCH, 2020.

- (a)  & (b):      Government has been implementing Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme since 2015 to provide soil health cards to all farmers across the country once in a cycle of 2 years. Soil Health Card provides information to farmers on nutrient status of their soil based on 12 parameters namely primary nutrients (N,P & K); secondary nutrient (S); micronutrients (B, Zn, Mn, Fe, & Cu); and others (pH, EC & OC) along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility for major crops of the area. In cycle-1(2015-17), 10.74 crore and in cycle-2 (2017-19), 11.75 crore SHCs were distributed  to  the  farmers.  During  2019-20, a  pilot  project  'Development  of  Model  Villages' has been initiated in 6954 villages( one village/ revenue block)  where individual farm holding based  sample  collection  with  farmer's  participation  is  ensured  along  with  awareness campaign and demonstration of application of fertilizers as per prescription of SHC. So far 14.32 lakh soil health cards have been issued in the Model Villages along with demonstrations.
- (c):     State- wise funds allocated for SHC scheme during the current year (2019-20) is given at Annexure .
- (d):     Static and mobile Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) are sanctioned as per proposals / requirement  of  State  Government  under  Soil  Health  Management  component  of  National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA). During 2014-15 to 2019-20, 10845 STLs have been sanctioned to States including 429 static STLs, 102 mobile STLs, 8752 mini STLs and 1562 village level STLs. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been sanctioned 1076 Mini STLs for KVKs for creating awareness about soil health among farmers through testing of soil samples.
- (e): As  per  information  from  the  State  Government  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  the  state  already has  243  static  soil  testing  labs,  having  STLs  in  each  district  including  3  in  Ayodhya,  the erstwhile Faizabad district.

## State-wise Allocation for Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme during current year (2019-20)

| Sl. No.   | State                     |   Amount (Rs - lakh) |
|-----------|---------------------------|----------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh            |              1197.41 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh         |               159.07 |
| 3         | Assam                     |               610.81 |
| 4         | Bihar                     |              1534.95 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh              |               239.5  |
| 6         | Goa                       |                19.74 |
| 7         | Gujarat                   |               432.78 |
| 8         | Haryana                   |               228.06 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh          |               172.76 |
| 10        | Jammu & Kashmir           |               670.06 |
| 11        | Jharkhand                 |               419.86 |
| 12        | Karnataka                 |               343.15 |
| 13        | Kerala                    |               515.39 |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh            |               668.65 |
| 15        | Maharashtra               |               854.69 |
| 16        | Manipur                   |               100.66 |
| 17        | Meghalaya                 |                59.31 |
| 18        | Mizoram                   |                39.18 |
| 19        | Nagaland                  |               212.95 |
| 20        | Odisha                    |               638.08 |
| 21        | Punjab                    |               201.43 |
| 22        | Rajasthan                 |               577.76 |
| 23        | Sikkim                    |                48    |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu                |               556.36 |
| 25        | Telangana                 |               868.12 |
| 26        | Tripura                   |               164.13 |
| 27        | Uttar Pradesh             |              1330.37 |
| 28        | Uttarakhand               |               160.8  |
| 29        | West Bengal               |               656.19 |
| 30        | Puducherry                |                18.6  |
| 31        | Dadar & Nagar Havelli     |                 5.53 |
| 32        | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |                17.74 |
| 33        | Ladakh                    |                 0    |
|           | Total                     |             13722.1  |

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