Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NPK fertilizers, Soil Health Card

Mains level: Soil Health Management

National Productivity Council (NPC) has carried out a study on ‘Soil Testing Infrastructure for Faster Delivery of Soil Health Card in India’ in 2017.

What did the study find?

In the study it was found that application of fertilizer and micronutrients based on Soil Health Card (SHC) recommendations resulted in 8-10% of savings.
It has led to an overall increase in the yield of crops to the tune of 5-6% reported by adopting the SHC recommendations.

About Soil Health Card Scheme

Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme is promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
An SHC is meant to give each farmer soil nutrient status of his/her holding and advice him/her on the dosage of fertilizers and also the needed soil amendments, that s/he should apply to maintain soil health in the long run.
SHC is a printed report that a farmer will be handed over for each of his holdings.
It will be made available once in a cycle of 2 years, which will indicate the status of soil health of a farmer’s holding for that particular period.
The SHC given in the next cycle of 2 years will be able to record the changes in the soil health for that subsequent period.

Parameters of SHC:

N, P, K (Macro-nutrients)
Sulfur (S) (Secondary- nutrient)
Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micronutrients)
pH, EC (Electrical conductivity) , OC (Organic content)

Try this PYQ:

Q. The nation-wide ‘Soil Health Card Scheme’ aims at:

expanding the cultivable area under irrigation.

enabling the banks to assess the quantum of loans to be granted to farmers on the basis of soil quality.

checking the overuse of fertilizers in farmlands.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Post your answers here.
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