Lok Sabha Question No. 2570 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-19
Subject: Soil Health
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2570

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 th  DECEMBER, 2023 Soil Health

## 2570.  SHRI MAGUNTA SHEENIVASULU REDDY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष और िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to start any programme to improve the health of the soil and consequently increase the production and if not, the reasons therefor; (b) whether any guidelines have been issued to the farmers from time to time regarding the health of the soil and if not, the reasons therefor; (c) whether any training has been given to the farmers regarding proper use of fertilizers to improve soil quality and if not, the reasons therefor; (d) the number of fully functional soil testing labs across the country, State-wise; (e) the number of permanent and non-permanent employees working in these labs and vacancies for the same, State-wise; and (f) the details of budgetary expenditure on soil testing labs run by the Government for the

- past five years?

ANSWER MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष और िकसान कʞाण मंũी (SHRI ARJUN MUNDA) (a) to (c): The Government of India is implementing Soil Health Management & Soil Health Card Schemes under the National Project on Soil Health & Fertility of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture since the year 2014-15. 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 soil health and its productivity. So far,

23.58 crore soil health cards have been distributed to farmers. Now, these schemes have been  merged  as  Soil  Health  &  Fertility  component  of  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana (RKVY). The guidelines for implementation of various activities have been issued to the farmers from time to time regarding the health of the soil under the scheme. Based on the recommendations  on  Soil  Health  Card  (SHC),  the  trainings  &  demonstrations  are conducted to create the awareness among the farmers for adopting the recommendations on  judicious  use  of  chemical  fertilizers  including  secondary  and  micronutrients  in conjunction with organic manures & bio-fertilizers. So far, 93781 farmer's trainings, 6.45 lakh demonstrations, 7425 farmer's melas/ campaigns on soil health card recommendations have been organized across the country.

(d) to (f): Since, 2014-15, total 8272 Soil Testing Labs (1068 Static Soil Testing Labs, 163 Mobile Soil Testing Labs, 6376 Mini Soil Testing Labs and 665 Village Level Soil Testing Labs) have been established across the country. The State-wise details of Soil Testing Labs established are at Annexure-I. No financial assistance is provided to States/ Union Territories  for  hiring  of  man  power,  therefore,  the  data  of  employees  working  in  Soil Testing Labs are not maintained by Government of India. Total Rs.229.95 crore has been released to States/UTs for Soil Testing Labs under the scheme. Out of this, Rs.83.31 crore has been released to States/UTs for the past five years.

## Annexure-I

State-wise details of Soil Testing Laboratories established in the country under the scheme from the year 2014-15 to 2023-24

| Sl. No.   | State                                |   Static lab |   Mobile lab Mini lab Village Level lab |   Mobile lab Mini lab Village Level lab |   Mobile lab Mini lab Village Level lab |
|-----------|--------------------------------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar                    |            1 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                       |           47 |                                      13 |                                    1328 |                                      16 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh                    |           17 |                                       3 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 4         | Assam                                |           26 |                                       0 |                                     214 |                                       0 |
| 5         | Bihar                                |           39 |                                       9 |                                       0 |                                      72 |
| 6         | Chhattisgarh                         |           33 |                                       0 |                                     111 |                                      35 |
| 7         | Goa                                  |            2 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 8         | Gujarat                              |           22 |                                       0 |                                     230 |                                      30 |
| 9         | Haryana                              |           53 |                                       0 |                                     104 |                                      36 |
| 10        | Himachal Pradesh                     |           11 |                                       7 |                                      69 |                                       0 |
| 11        | Jammu & Kashmir                      |           22 |                                      12 |                                       0 |                                      21 |
| 12        | Jharkhand                            |           29 |                                       0 |                                    1300 |                                       0 |
| 13        | Karnataka                            |           96 |                                       1 |                                       6 |                                     291 |
| 14        | Kerala                               |           22 |                                      11 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 15        | Ladakh                               |            2 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       1 |
| 16        | Madhya Pradesh                       |           50 |                                       0 |                                     626 |                                      12 |
| 17        | Maharashtra                          |          213 |                                      31 |                                      48 |                                       0 |
| 18        | Manipur                              |            9 |                                       3 |                                       3 |                                       2 |
| 19        | Meghalaya                            |            5 |                                       0 |                                       8 |                                       0 |
| 20        | Mizoram                              |            3 |                                       3 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 21        | Nagaland                             |           16 |                                       3 |                                       0 |                                      74 |
| 22        | Odisha                               |           30 |                                      30 |                                       0 |                                      40 |
| 23        | Puducherry                           |            3 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 24        | Punjab                               |           24 |                                       3 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 25        | Rajasthan                            |          101 |                                      12 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 26        | Sikkim                               |            3 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                      14 |
| 27        | Tamil Nadu                           |           36 |                                      16 |                                       0 |                                       1 |
| 28        | Telangana                            |           40 |                                       4 |                                    2050 |                                       0 |
| 29        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |            0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| 30        | Tripura                              |            4 |                                       2 |                                     100 |                                      13 |
| 31        | Uttar Pradesh                        |           75 |                                       0 |                                     179 |                                       6 |
| 32        | Uttarakhand                          |           13 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       1 |
| 33        | West Bengal                          |           21 |                                       0 |                                       0 |                                       0 |
| Total     | Total                                |         1068 |                                     163 |                                    6376 |                                     665 |

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