Implementation of SHMS


The Government is implementing Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme since 2015-16 to ascertain soil health and fertility. Soil Health Card provides nutrient status of the soil along with prescription about balanced and integrated use of inorganic and organic fertilizers to maintain good soil health that results in increase in production.

The total number of farmers provided with SHCs during last three years, State/ UT-wise is given at Annexure–I. The States have not reported any challenges faced by them while implementing the scheme.

The number of soil testing laboratories set up across the country, State/ UT-wise is at Annexure-II.

Increase in agriculture production depends on a number of factors like use of quality seeds, balanced & integrated use of fertilizers, availability of irrigation, etc.National Production Council in their study ‘Soil Testing Infrastructure for Faster Delivery of Soil Health Card in India’ in 2017 reported an overall increase in the yield of crops to the tune of 5-6% by adopting SHC recommendations.

Steps taken by Government to improve agricultural productivity are given below:

 

  1. The Government is implementing National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to enhance production and productivity of food crops. The mission aims at increasing foodgrain/food crop production through area expansion in niche regions and productivity improvement. Under NFSM, support is given for promotion of crops viz., rice, wheat, pulses, nutri cereals (jowar, bajra, ragi& small millets), coarse cereals (maize & barley), commercial crops (cotton, jute & sugarcane) and oilseeds and oilpalm.
  2. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) plays a vital role to improve agricultural productivity through various interventions i.e. through introduction of improved varieties, quality seeds and planting materials, protected cultivation, high density plantation, rejuvenation, precision farming and horticultural mechanization.
  3. Government is implementing Sub-Mission on Seeds & Planting Materials (SMSP) to promote production and multiplication of quality seeds of agricultural crops, so that the required quantities of seeds could be made available to farmers in the country.
  4. Under Rashtriya Krishi VikasYojana (RKVY) funds are released to the State Governments on the basis of projects in Agriculture & allied sectors to implement the scheme in the States as per their requirement in areas which requires focused attention for increasing production and productivity in the State.
  5.  “Per drop more crop” initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged for optimal utilization of water, reducing cost of inputs and increasing productivity.       

                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 Annexure-I

 

State-wise number of farmers provided with Soil Health Cards during last three years.

Sl. No.

States/UTs

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

1

Andaman & Nicobar

3894

1007

3000

2

Andhra Pradesh

3462629

226487

0

3

Arunachal Pradesh

10266

5432

53

4

Assam

1157702

67493

0

5

Bihar

4151316

123866

305223

6

Chhattisgarh

2811066

65341

387

7

D&N Haveli

2838

0

0

8

Goa

6066

9281

6556

9

Gujarat

4372845

63591

0

10

Haryana

2497185

30261

18972

11

Himachal Pradesh

56433

19613

5168

12

J & K

546930

56357

159890

13

Jharkhand

320914

14572

0

14

Karnataka

38538

73221

40104

15

Kerala

773204

171207

118022

16

Ladakh

16500

2103

0

17

Madhya Pradesh

5388000

127000

133000

18

Maharashtra

2792042

201837

0

19

Manipur

10357

10357

10010

20

Meghalaya

139741

45286

8531

21

Mizoram

11986

2119

0

22

Nagaland

12000

27304

0

23

Odisha

925635

431418

52056

24

Puducherry

53

32

64

25

Punjab

580000

580568

19196

26

Rajasthan

73660

23104

33347

27

Sikkim

3300

2936

0

28

Tamil Nadu

3533971

101144

32750

29

Telangana

472987

110664

165527

30

Tripura

18034

15614

6467

31

Uttar Pradesh

17472000

255517

20000

32

Uttarakhand

445556

13645

6700

33

West Bengal

612500

4520

0

Total

52720148

2882897

1145023

Note: – During 2020-21, soil testing was done by states under state programme (except Uttar Pradesh).

                                                                                    Annexure-II

State-wise number of Soil Testing Labs

S. No.

Name of State/ UT

Number of Soil Testing labs

Static

Mobile

Mini Lab

Village level

Total

 

1

A&N Islands

1

0

0

0

1

 

2

Andhra Pradesh

47

13

1328

5

1393

 

3

Arunachal Pradesh

5

3

0

0

8

 

4

Assam

10

0

216

0

226

 

5

Bihar

38

9

1

23

71

 

6

Chhattisgarh

33

0

111

5

149

 

7

D&N Haveli

0

0

0

0

0

 

8

Goa

2

0

0

0

2

 

9

Gujarat

81

0

230

30

341

 

10

Haryana

35

0

0

34

69

 

11

Himachal Pradesh

11

9

69

0

89

 

12

J&K

20

12

0

0

32

 

13

Jharkhand

47

0

3164

0

3211

 

14

Karnataka

96

1

6

281

384

 

15

Kerala

22

12

0

0

34

 

16

Ladakh

2

0

0

0

2

 

17

Madhya Pradesh

78

7

503

1

589

 

18

Maharashtra

209

26

48

0

283

 

19

Manipur

1

0

16

2

19

 

20

Meghalaya

3

3

8

0

14

 

21

Mizoram

5

0

0

0

5

 

22

Nagaland

11

0

0

0

11

 

23

Odisha

30

30

314

0

374

 

24

Puducherry

2

0

0

0

2

 

25

Punjab

69

4

0

0

73

 

26

Rajasthan

101

12

0

0

113

 

27

Sikkim

3

0

0

14

17

 

28

Tamil Nadu

36

16

0

0

52

 

29

Telangana

22

4

2050

0

2076

 

30

Tripura

2

2

100

0

104

 

31

Uttar Pradesh

254

0

0

6

260

 

32

Uttarakhand

13

0

0

1

14

 

33

West Bengal

26

8

0

0

34

 

 

Total

1315

171

8164

402

10052

 

 

This information was given by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

****

APS/IA/JK



    Source PIB