Launch awareness campaigns for increasing use of bio and organic fertilizers

NEW DELHI, 7 May 2020: Indian agriculture & farmers' welfare minister, Narendra Singh Tomar has called for making integrated soil nutrient management a farmers’ movement.  

Reviewing the progress of the Soil Health Programme recently, he directed running mission mode awareness campaigns on increasing use of bio and organic fertilizers and reducing chemical fertilizers strictly based on recommendations of Soil Health Card.

During 2020-21, the major focus of the programme would be on mass awareness programme for farmers in over 100,000 villages covering all districts of the country.

Govt to set up village-level Soil Testing Labs

Tomar advocated the setting up of village-level Soil Testing Labs by youth having education in agriculture, Women Self Help Groups, FPOs etc. He said the SHC scheme will focus on enabling employment generation after appropriate skill development.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare will launch a comprehensive campaign on soil test based rational application of fertilizers and promotion of organic farming including Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP) for safe nutritious food in association with the Departments of Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Soil Health Card gives the nutrient status of their soil, recommends dosages

Under the SHC scheme, Soil Health Cards are provided to all farmers at an interval of 2 years. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19, 2015 at Suratgarh, Rajasthan, these cards provide information to farmers on the nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on the appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.

Deterioration of soil chemical, physical and biological health is considered as one of the reasons for the stagnation of agricultural productivity in India.

Soil Health Card provides two sets of fertilizer recommendations for six crops including recommendations of organic manures.  Farmers can also get recommendations for additional crops on demand. 

They can also print the card as their own from Li. SHC portal has farmers database of both the cycles and is available in 21 languages for the benefit of the farmers.

A 2017 study by the National Productivity Council (NPC) found that the SHC scheme has promoted sustainable farming and led to a decrease of the use of chemical fertilizer applications in the range of 8-10%.

Besides, the overall increase in the yield of crops to the tune of 5-6% was reported due to the application of fertilizer and micronutrients as per recommendations available in the Soil Health Cards.