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India holds significant agricultural importance on the global stage, owing to its vast arable land, diverse agro-climatic zones, and rich biodiversity. It is the world’s second-largest producer of agricultural products, contributing significantly to global food security. India’s production of key crops like rice, wheat, and sugarcane ranks among the highest globally.
23 crore solid health cards are distributed by testing the soil on 12 scientific parameters at around 10000+ soil testing centres set-up by the central government of India. 2,53,49,546 soil samples were taken in 10,74,12,648 SHC were allotted in the cycle 1 between 2015-17. In the year 2023, an allotment of 6995767 has been done on which 461212 samples have been collected and 15884 SHCs have been generated as per the last data.
The foundation for farmers’ long-term sustainability in profitability is healthy, fertile soil. The first step in sustainable farming is using the right amounts of fertilizers and crop rotation as advised by science. A science-based, tried-and-true method for determining the health of the soil, its fertility state, and the need for nutrient amendments is soil testing. In order to use fertilizers wisely, soil testing relies on the principle of profitability, which states that if all other production factors are operating at maximum efficiency and there are no constraints, applying nutrients based on soil testing will almost certainly result in a more profitable outcome than applying nutrients ad hoc.
As opposed to the optimal ratio of 4:2:1, India’s current NPK consumption is 7.7:3.1:1, which which was 8.2:3.2:1 in the year 2012-13. Every year, India spends close to Rs. 70,000 crore on fertilizer subsidies. Estimates place the subsidy at around Rs. 5000 per ha of net cropped land and roughly Rs. 5100 per farmer, which leads to an overuse of fertilizers, particularly NPK at the expense of micronutrients and manure. As a result, the government of India introduced the Soil Health Card Scheme throughout India, which calls for the balanced use of fertilizers (GoI, 2017).
The ministry of agriculture launched the soil health card (SHC) program on December 5th, 2015. The SHC system may be put into effect for the remainder of the 12th plan period. To all farmers, SHC will be made available.In the nation every two years to let farmers to apply the necessary amounts of nutrients based on the results of soil tests in order to achieve enhanced and long-lasting soil health and fertility, lower expenses, and higher profitability.
In an analysis report published in the year 2017 (Impact Study of Soil Health Card Scheme, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad) the main findings about the SHC is mentioned as below:-
In the same analysis report, the level of impact of SHC is mentioned as below:-
A study conducted by the National Productivity Council (NPC) says the application of Soil Health Card recommendations has led to a decline of 8-10% in use of chemical fertilizers and also raised productivity by 5-6%.
The Agriculture Ministry adopted the revised design of the Soil Health Card. Ministry considered various policy and scheme design recommendations (like tenure for testing, scale of operation) while revising the Soil Health Card scheme. Additional results:
In August 2023, Union Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry replied in Rajyasabha in his written asnwer about the soil health card scheme stating that:
The soil health card scheme, now the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna has resulted on the principles adopted by the committee formed by the Government of India to double the farmers’ income. It has proved out to be a vital step in making viksit Bharat in 2047 by strengthening and empowering the farmers and increasing the crop-yield more economically.
Author : Tirth Shah
Author Description : Tirth Shah is a civil engineering professional associated with soil testing for 4 years. He is also an ancestral farmer, looking after his farms. He is actively associated with farmers and stakeholders of farming in rural areas.
Disclaimer : The views, thoughts, or opinions expressed in this blogs belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of author’s employer, organisation, committee or any other group or individual.