Soil health and soil fertility is the basis for the sustainable profitability of farmers all over the world. And utilizing optimum doses of fertilizers and cropping patterns according to the scientific recommendation is the initial step towards sustainable farming.
Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme was launched by the Government of India in 2015 and is endorsed by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Ministry. Soil Health Card provides every farmer soil nutrient status of his land and advice him accordingly on the dosage of fertilizers and essential soil amendments that should be maintained for good soil health.
Soil Health Card Scheme is very helpful for the farmers of the country. There are many farmers in India who do not know which types of crops should be grown to get more yield. Mainly, they do not know about the quality and the type of soil of their land.
What is Soil Health Card?
Soil Health Card is basically a printed report that a farmer is given for all his land or holdings. It contains the status of soil considering 12 parameters - N, P, K (Macro-nutrients), S (Secondary- nutrient), Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micronutrients), and pH, EC, OC. Based on all this, the Soil Health Card will also specify fertilizer recommendations and soil changes required for the farm.
How to use Soil Health Card?
The SHC will have an advisory based on the soil nutrient status of the farmer’s holding, which will tell about the recommendations on the dosage of different nutrients required. After that, it will advise the farmer on how much fertilizer he should apply and what soil amendments he should adopt.
The SHC will be made available once every 3 years to the farmers and this will indicate the status of soil health of his land for that particular period.
The State Government collects soil samples twice a year, after harvesting Kharif and Rabi Crop or when there is no standing crop in the meadow. Then the samples are sent to various soil test laboratories in the state or country. A sum of Rs.190/soil sample is given to State Governments, which covers the entire cost of collection of the sample, testing, generation, and distribution of the Soil Health Card to the farmers.
What are the advantages of the Soil Health Card?
Benefits of Soil Health Card Scheme
There are many benefits of having a Soil Health Card and the farmer needs to understand it:
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The soil health card scheme will properly examine the farmer’s soil and accordingly give them a formatted report so that they can decide upon which types of crops to be cultivated for more income.
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The appointed authorities will also monitor the soil on a regular basis and once every 3 years will give a report to the farmers. Also, the farmers will be regularly updated with data about their soil.
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Under the scheme, the government will also employ professionals to help the farmers in adopting remedial measures.
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With the help of the Soil Health Card Scheme, the farmers can plan the future of their crops as well as land.
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The best thing about the scheme is that government pays utmost attention to that the same individual conducts soil analysis for a farmer, further enhancing the effectiveness of the scheme.
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The SHC gives the farmers a clear idea of which nutrients is lacking in their soil. Thus, in which crops they should invest.
What is the right time for soil sampling?
Generally, soil samples are taken twice a year, after harvesting of Rabi & Kharif Crop or when there is no standing crop in the field.
To conclude, the main motive behind introducing the Soil Health Card scheme was to discover the type of particular soil and then tell farmers how they can improve it. Even though soil has some restrictions, we can do something to get the most out of it and this is what our government is trying to do with Soil Health Card Scheme.
What is the cost per sample?
Rs.190 / soil sample is provided to the State Governments, which covers the cost of collection of the soil sample, test, generation & distribution of soil health card to the farmer.
For more information, the farmers can visit the website given below:
https://soilhealth.dac.gov.in/
