Central scheme to test nutrient status of soil

Farmers across the country to get soil health cards

The Union government has taken up a project to test the nutrient status of the soil of agricultural fields throughout the country and provide soil health cards to farmers.

It will have the details of the nutrient status of the field with recommendations from experts on the steps to improve it. Official sources told The Hindu on Friday that the Union Agriculture Ministry had earmarked Rs. 586.54 crore to conduct tests on 2.53 crore soil samples every three years to generate approximately 14 crore cards.

The project is entirely funded by the Union government and Rs. 190 would be provided to the State government per card to conduct stipulated tests on the soil sample and distribute them to farmers. The card would contain the status of the soil with respect to 12 parameters including micro nutrients, secondary nutrients and others. Besides the quantity of the fertilizer to be used on the respective field, the card would also contain recommendations for soil amendments that would have to be taken up to realise optimal yield.

This initiative is being taken up to put in place a fool-proof soil testing facility and revive the practice of regular soil testing at the village and hobli levels. It is expected to help the country improve the production of foodgrains and oilseeds which was almost static for the past few years.

Sources said that the card would contain an advisory based on the nutrient status of the soil and would have recommendations on the dosage of nutrients needed to enrich the soil. The soil health of the holdings of individual farmers would be revised once in three years by repeating the cycle of tests. The soil samples would be drawn from a grid of 2.5 hectares (ha) in irrigated areas and 10 ha in rain-fed areas with the help of GPS tools and revenue maps.

In one of the recommendations, the Union Agriculture Ministry has said that the State government would take soil samples twice a year after the harvest of the kharif and rabi crops.

Sources said that the State Agriculture Department had convened a meeting in Tumakuru on Saturday of Joint Directors of Agriculture and other senior officials to work out a time-table for taking the soil samples and preparing the card as per the directions of the Union government. The meeting would also take a decision to revive soil testing laboratories in the State which had become defunct.