Lok Sabha Question No. 248 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: Soil Health Card Scheme
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Anurag Sharma, Ganesan Selvam, Bhavana Gawali (Patil), Dhanush M Kumar, C.N. Annadurai, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Arvind Dharmapuri

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 248

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2021

## SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

248.

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRI SELVAM G:

SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI ARVIND DHARMAPURI:

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

- (a) whether some positive results are being achieved in agricultural production after the introduction of the Soil Health Card Scheme and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  challenges  faced  by  the  Government  while  implementing  Soil  Health  Card Scheme;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  performance  of  Soil  Health  Card Scheme and if so, the details thereof and the outcome of assessment;
- (d) whether  Soil  Health  Card  Scheme  has  been  implemented  in  all  parts  of  the country specially in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh; and
- (e) if  so,  the  total  number  of  farmers  and  the  number  of  farmers  who  have  been issued  Soil  Health Cards  State/UT-wise  especially  in  the  States  of  Tamil  Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

( SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR )

- (a)  to  (c):        National  Productivity  Council  (NPC)  carried  out  a  study  on  'Soil  Testing Infrastructure for Faster Delivery of Soil Health Card in India' in 2017.  In the study it was found that application of fertilizer and micronutrients based on Soil Health Card (SHC) recommendations resulted in 8-10% of savings and overall increase in the yield of crops to the tune of 5-6% reported by adopting the SHC recommendations.

National  Institute  of  Agricultural  Extension  Management  (MANAGE),  Hyderabad conducted an impact study of Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme (November 2017).  The major findings were that there is some reduction in fertilizer use, especially Nitrogen and increase in bio-fertilizers and other micro-nutrients use.  Overall, paddy farmers reduced use of urea by 9%, Di Ammonium Phosphate (DAP)/ Single Super Phosphate (SSP) by 7%, but increased use of Potassium by 20%.   This is a healthy sign of moving towards balanced use of fertilizers.

The States have not reported any challenges faced by them while implementing the scheme.

(d) & (e):      Soil Health Card Scheme has been implemented in all parts of the country including  Tamil  Nadu,  Maharashtra,  Telangana  and  Uttar  Pradesh.    The  State/Union Territory (UT)-wise details of total number of farm holdings and number of Soil Health Cards issued in given at Annexure .

## Annexure

## States/UTs-wise details of total number of farm holdings and number of Soil Health Cards issued

| Sl. No.   |                                        | Total No. of farm holding   | Soil Health Cards issued   | Soil Health Cards issued   | Soil Health Cards issued           |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | States/UTs                             |                             | Cycle-I (2015-17)          | Cycle-II (2017-19)         | Model Village Programme (2019- 20) |
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar                      | 11954                       | 10000                      | 9540                       | 1007                               |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                         | 8523910                     | 7455204                    | 6967162                    | 226487                             |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh                      | 113253                      | 20532                      | 22128                      | 225                                |
| 4         | Assam                                  | 2741711                     | 1300901                    | 1300901                    | 66218                              |
| 5         | Bihar                                  | 16412893                    | 6469650                    | 6277942                    | 123866                             |
| 6         | Chhattisgarh                           | 4010772                     | 3890709                    | 4746670                    | 59302                              |
| 7         | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | 23088                       | 2222                       | 12994                      | 0                                  |
| 8         | Goa                                    | 74563                       | 25000                      | 16743                      | 2938                               |
| 9         | Gujarat                                | 5320626                     | 5108923                    | 8694942                    | 63591                              |
| 10        | Haryana                                | 1628015                     | 4227238                    | 4143900                    | 25235                              |
| 11        | Himachal Pradesh                       | 996809                      | 385011                     | 960765                     | 19671                              |
| 12        | J & K                                  | 1416509                     | 692062                     | 1018051                    | 70246                              |
| 13        | Jharkhand                              | 2802946                     | 637507                     | 641828                     | 58572                              |
| 14        | Karnataka                              | 8680739                     | 7832189                    | 7832189                    | 65034                              |
| 15        | Kerala                                 | 7583496                     | 763435                     | 2209717                    | 80045                              |
| 16        | Madhya Pradesh                         | 10003135                    | 8872377                    | 8907385                    | 127585                             |
| 17        | Maharashtra                            | 15285439                    | 13146000                   | 13053000                   | 201837                             |
| 18        | Manipur                                | 150484                      | 114522                     | 114522                     | 10010                              |
| 19        | Meghalaya                              | 232397                      | 209561                     | 246879                     | 3243                               |
| 20        | Mizoram                                | 89774                       | 11986                      | 16458                      | 2119                               |
| 21        | Nagaland                               | 196532                      | 184797                     | 12000                      | 27304                              |
| 22        | Odisha                                 | 4865850                     | 2374233                    | 2053734                    | 162405                             |
| 23        | Puducherry                             | 33840                       | 19594                      | 12089                      | 2508                               |
| 24        | Punjab                                 | 1092713                     | 1251726                    | 1160568                    | 17793                              |
| 25        | Rajasthan                              | 7654616                     | 6886000                    | 11860699                   | 86341                              |
| 26        | Sikkim                                 | 71532                       | 46000                      | 66000                      | 2936                               |
| 27        | Tamil Nadu                             | 7937947                     | 6767000                    | 7016654                    | 58317                              |
| 28        | Telangana                              | 5947735                     | 5720737                    | 4842509                    | 110664                             |
| 29        | Tripura                                | 573194                      | 117723                     | 117723                     | 15602                              |
| 30        | Uttar Pradesh                          | 23821625                    | 17014573                   | 20354551                   | 255517                             |
| 31        | Uttarakhand                            | 881305                      | 750494                     | 882797                     | 13645                              |
| 32        | West Bengal                            | 7242732                     | 5040510                    | 4200000                    | 4520                               |
| Total     | Total                                  | 146422134                   | 107348416                  | 119773040                  | 1964783                            |

Source: Total No. of farm holdings-Agriculture Census 2015-16

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