Parliament Question: Distribution and Impact of Soil Health Cards

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1507 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29THJULY, 2025 DISTRIBUTION AND IMPACT OF SOIL HEALTH CARDS

1507. SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण मं(cid:287)ी be pleased to state?

(a) the number of Soil Health Cards distributed to farmers in Maharashtra during the year 2024–25, State-wise and district-wise in the State of Maharashtra including Raigad Lok Sabha Constituency;

(b) the number of soil samples collected and tested in Maharashtra during the 2024-25,district-wise especially for Raigad PC;

(c) the impact of the Soil Health Card Scheme on crop yield and fertilizer usage among farmers in Maharashtra; and

(d) whether the Government has faced any challenges in implementing the scheme in remote and tribal areas of the State and if so, the details of action taken to address these challenges? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) & (b): The district wise details of soil samples collected, tested and Soil Health Cards (SHCs) distributed to farmers in Maharashtra during the year 2024–25 are at Annexure. In Raigad Lok Sabha Constituency, 14551 soil samples were collected, 14510 soil samples were tested & SHCs were distributed during 2024-25.

(c): Till date, a total of 2.75 Crore SHCs have been distributed to farmers in Maharashtra. Government of Maharashtra has informed that the scheme has enabled farmers to use appropriate fertilizers in a balanced manner. This has led to an increase in crop yields. National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi carried out a study 'Soil TestingInfrastructure for Faster Delivery of Soil Health Card in India' in 2017 in 76 districts of 19 States (including Maharashtra) covering 170 soil testing labs and 1700 farmers. Study reveals that as a result of application of fertilizer and micro-nutrients as per SHC recommendations, there has been a decrease of use of chemical fertilizer in the range of 8- 10%. Overall 5-6% increase in the yield of crops was reported due to application of fertilizer and micro nutrients as per recommendations in SHC.

(d): No major challenges are faced in implementation of the scheme in remote and tribal areas in Maharashtra.Annexure District wise details of soil samples collected, tested and Soil Health Cards (SHCs) distributed to farmers in Maharashtra during the year 2024–25 Sl. No. District Number of Soil Number of Soil Samples Tested Samples Collected and Soil Health Cards issued to Farmers 1 Ahilyanagar 19500 19500 2 Akola 13501 12339 3 Amravati 19417 11646 4 Beed 17000 14174 5 Bhandara 13268 13248 6 Buldhana 18500 18500 7 Chandrapur 21497 21477 8 Chhatrapati 15118 15089 Sambhajinagar 9 Dharashiv 14999 14999 10 Dhule 11000 12663 11 Gadchiroli 18000 16036 12 Gondia 11414 10876 13 Hingoli 11498 11430 14 Jalgaon 21433 19854 15 Jalna 15000 15000 16 Kolhapur 15624 12695 17 Latur 16000 16001 18 Nagpur 17974 15109 19 Nanded 21961 21524 20 Nandurbar 12500 12500 21 Nashik 20770 20762 22 Palghar 7787 5906 23 Parbhani 15376 14890 24 Pune 18500 18500 25 Raigad 16500 16470 26 Ratnagiri 8956 8731 27 Sangli 15462 15456 28 Satara 16454 15618 29 Sindhudurg 8658 7918 30 Solapur 17000 16967 31 Thane 10122 9564 32 Wardha 11415 11402 33 Washim 13000 13002 34 Yavatmal 12837 7861 Total 518041 487707

Source: Soil Health card Portal *****