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Agricultural News
Government provides Soil health cards under a nationwide drive
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that soil health cards will be given to farmers under a nationwide drive. "On World Soil Day we reaffirm our commitment to making our soil healthier. When soil is in good health, our farmers get more wealth," he added.
The government's soil health card is used to improve the health of the soil and provide guidance to farmers on soil-related issues.Modi had launched the soil health card scheme in Suratgarh, Rajasthan with an aim of checking deteriorating soil quality and increase farm productivity. It is decided that soil health cards are given to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country in coming three years.
The cards will carry crop-wise recommendation of fertilisers required for farm lands, thereby helping farmers in identifying health of soil and judiciously use soil nutrients. The government has set a target to collect 102.61 lakh samples in the 2015-16 fiscal. Till last month, it has able to collect over 55 lakh samples, of which 31.43 lakh samples have been tested and 26.53 lakh soil health cards have been issued.
As per the operational guidelines of the scheme, samples are to be collected and tested in a grid of 2.5 hectare in irrigated areas and 10 hectare in rainfed areas.