Govt mulls making soil health cards must for availing farm scheme benefits

The Centre is also looking at a proposal to give 1% cashback on fertiliser purchase

The Centre is looking at a proposal to make possession of soil health cards (SHCs) mandatory for getting benefits under schemes of the agriculture ministry.

Officials said a proposal to this effect was earlier discussed at a brainstorming session on SHCs and was also taken up at the annual kharif conference.

If approved, this could also include availing of benefits under PM-KISAN, wherein the government allocates Rs 6,000 per annum to small and marginal farmers. The Bharatiya Janata Party had promised in its manifesto the extension of the scheme to every farmer. The government is also examining a proposal to return 1 per cent cash to farmers who purchase fertilisers based on recommendations in the health card.

This cashback could be given by the fertiliser companies as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. In addition, the government is considering increasing the financial assistance for setting up soil testing labs to Rs 60 lakh for automation.

The SHC scheme was among the flagship programmes of the Modi government in its first stint, and officials expect it to get a major fillip in the second tenure. The scheme runs in two phases because the findings need to be updated after a gap.

So far under the scheme, 25.35 million soil samples were collected and over 107.3 million cards distributed, in the first cycle from 2015-2017.

In the second cycle — from May 2017 — the Centre had fixed a target of collecting 27.39 million soil samples and till date, almost 98 per cent has been collected, while 25.12 million samples have been tested. As far as card distribution is concerned, 84.7 million have been distributed against a target of 120.4 million.

In 2016-17, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 133.67 crore for the scheme, which rose to Rs 152.77 crore in 2017-18, and further to Rs 237.40 crore in 2018-19.

Other Proposals

• The Centre is also looking at a proposal to give 1 per cent cashback on fertiliser purchase 
• So far, around 100 mn health cards have been issued in phase one and over 80 mn in the second phase
• Providing more assistance for setting up soil testing labs by states is also under consideration