Lok Sabha Question No. 3181 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-22
Subject: Soil Health Card Scheme
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3181

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  MARCH, 2022

## SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

3181.  SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

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

- (a) Whether  the  farmers  have  genuinely  been  benefitted  from  introduction  of  Soil Health  Card  Scheme  and  if  so,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  the  soil fertility for the farmers;
- (b) the  number of soil testing laboratories  set up by the Government along with the State-wise details thereof;
- (c) the period of time taken for soil testing in the laboratory; and
- (d) The time gap required for repeating soil testing after first testing?

## ANSWER

## MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a):      Soil Health Card help the farmers in the following ways:
- (i) The report generated through soil health card scheme encourages judicious and balanced use of fertilizers.
- (ii) The report card also suggested use of bio fertilizers, micronutrients and organic manures to increase soil fertility.
- (iii) Farmers training and demonstrations on farmers fields, under the scheme created awareness among the farmers to increase soil fertility.
- (iv) Indian  council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  also  imparts  training  to  educate farmers on soil testing and soil health management.
- (b):      The  State-wise  number  of  soil  testing  laboratories  set  up  under  Soil  Health Management (SHM) scheme since2014-15 is given at Annexure .

(c) & (d):     As per Soil Health Card scheme guidelines, the period of time for soil testing has to be completed by states/UTs within three weeks of receipts of soil samples in the lab and soil testing can be repeated after a time gap of two years after first testing, but farmers can get test as per their requirement.

## Status  of  Soil  Testing  Laboratories  set  up  under  Soil  Health  Management  (SHM) scheme since 2014-15

| S. No.   | Name of State     | StaticLabs   |   MobileLabs |   Village Level Soil Testing Labs |   MiniLabs |
|----------|-------------------|--------------|--------------|-----------------------------------|------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh    | 0            |            9 |                                16 |       1328 |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh | 6            |            0 |                                 0 |         20 |
| 3.       | Assam             | 10           |            0 |                                 0 |        200 |
| 4.       | Bihar             | 0            |            6 |                                25 |          0 |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh      | 23           |            0 |                                 5 |        111 |
| 6.       | Goa               | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 7.       | Gujarat           | 0            |            0 |                                30 |        230 |
| 8.       | Haryana           | 7            |            0 |                                36 |         34 |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh  | 0            |            7 |                                 0 |         47 |
| 10.      | Jharkhand         | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |       1300 |
| 11.      | Karnataka         | 0            |            1 |                               289 |          6 |
| 12.      | Kerala            | 0            |            2 |                                 0 |        152 |
| 13.      | Madhya Pradesh    | 265*         |            0 |                                 6 |        626 |
| 14.      | Maharashtra       | 24           |            9 |                                 0 |        299 |
| 15.      | Manipur           | 6            |            0 |                                 2 |          0 |
| 16.      | Meghalaya         | 2            |            0 |                                 0 |          8 |
| 17.      | Mizoram           | 2            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 18.      | Nagaland          | 13           |            3 |                                74 |          0 |
| 19.      | Odisha            | 4            |           19 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 20.      | Punjab            | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 21.      | Rajasthan         | 55           |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 22.      | Sikkim            | 0            |            0 |                                14 |          0 |
| 23.      | Tamil Nadu        | 5            |            0 |                                 2 |          0 |
| 24.      | Telangana         | 0            |            3 |                                 0 |       2050 |
| 25.      | Tripura           | 1            |            2 |                                 0 |        100 |
| 26.      | Uttarakhand       | 0            |            0 |                                 1 |          0 |
| 27.      | Uttar Pradesh     | 2            |            0 |                                 6 |          0 |
| 28.      | West Bengal       | 12           |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 29.      | A & N Islands     | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 30.      | Puducherry        | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 31.      | J & K             | 0            |            8 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 32.      | DD & DN Haveli    | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
| 33.      | Ladakh            | 0            |            0 |                                 0 |          0 |
|          | Total             | 437          |           69 |                               506 |       6511 |

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