Soil Testing

Soil Testing and distribution of soil health cards is a dynamic process carried out by the State Governments.

The State Governments are advised time to time to enhance their soil testing capacity by seeking assistance under existing schemes namely; National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and also to employ skilled staff in their laboratories.

Alongwith details of soil fertility, farmers are advised on seed variety, irrigation,crop pest and disease management etc. in order to optimize production.

The Government proposes to launch 'Soil Health Card' scheme to provide farmers with information on soil analysis and recommendation on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for cultivation of various crops. Soil health card for all farm holdings in the country is proposed at 3 years intervals so as to ensure that farmers apply the required amount of nutrients to their crops.

This information was given today by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Mohanbhai Kundaria in the Lok Sabha.

GG: SB:CP : soil (lok) 2.12.2014