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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3822
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11TH AUGUST, 2026
REVIEW OF SOIL HEALTH CARD ISSUANCE
3822. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण म(cid:287)ं ी
be pleased to state:
(a) the total number of Soil Health Cards (SHCs) issued to farmers under the Soil
Health Card Scheme, State-wise, including Tamil Nadu;
(b) the frequency and coverage of soil testing conducted in the last three years, and
number of farmers receiving recommendations based on soil test results;
(c) whether the Government has observed gaps in issuance, renewal, or accuracy of
SHCs, particularly for small and marginal farmers;
(d) the measures being taken to increase awareness among farmers about the use of
SHCs for optimal fertilizer application and soil nutrient management;
(e) whether any follow-up support, training or financial incentives are provided to
farmers adopting recommendations from SHCs; and
(f) the steps being taken to improve digital tracking, laboratory infrastructure, and
timely delivery of SHCs across all States?
ANSWER
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) to (c): 26.26 crore Soil Health Cards (SHCs) have been generated/issued to farmers
in the country under the Soil Health & Fertility Scheme since inception of the scheme i.e.
2014-15 till date. State-wise details of issue of SHCs, including Tamil Nadu are at
Annexure-I. Total 8313 Soil Testing Labs (1267 Static Soil Testing Labs, 168 Mobile Soil
Testing Labs, 6197 Mini Soil Testing Labs and 681 Village Level Soil Testing Labs) have
been established under the scheme. During the last three years from 2023-24 to 2025-26,2.42 crore soil testing have been conducted and 2.42 crore SHCs have been
generated/issued to farmers including small & marginal farmers in the country.
(d) & (e): Under the Scheme, around 7.17 Lakh demonstrations, 130627 farmer’s
training programmes and 7,425 farmer’s mela have been organized to enable farmers to
follow recommendations in the SHC. In addition, 70,002 Krishi Sakhis have been trained
to support farmers in using SHCs among other issues. School soil health programme
was started in 2023-24, wherein students participates in soil sample collections, testing,
SHC generation and providing advisory to farmers. Under the programme 2015 soil labs
have been established in schools to spread awareness of SHC in children & thereby their
families. SHC also provides recommendations specific for natural farming and organic
farming. 19.37 lakh soil samples of natural farmers have been collected since, 2025-26
till date and 14.57 lakh SHCs have been generated thereof. Beneficiary linked schemes
of agriculture including National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds and Mission for
Aatmanirbharta in Pulses also encourage farmers to generate SHC and follow the
recommendations.
Rural Agriculture Work Experience (RAWE) Programme, a component of the Student
READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) provides undergraduate
agriculture students with practical exposure to village and farming. These students
disseminate improved agricultural technologies through extension. From 2021–22 to 2025–
26, the programme covered 1,05,329 undergraduate students from 62 agricultural
universities. Low-cost technologies such as yellow sticky traps, pheromone traps, seed
treatment, vermicomposting, integrated farming systems etc All these extension activities
seek to address the gaps in issuance, renewals & use of SHCs by farmers, including small
& marginal farmers. Soil health & Fertility Scheme covers the cost of SHC, and same is
provided to the farmers free. Government bears Rs. 300 for generation of each SHC and
same is provided to farmers free of cost. No financial incentives are provided to farmers
adopting recommendations from SHCs.
(f): Farmer can digitally track generation of SHC once sample is collected by entering
mobile number through soil health card portal https://soilhealth.dac.gov.in/soilhealthcard .
After generation of SHC, it can be also downloaded from the portal. Under the scheme
financial assistance is provided to states for setting up of soil testing laboratories. Rs. 75
lakh per laboratory is provided for setting up of static/mobile soil testing laboratory whereas
Rs. 1.5 lakh is provided for setting up of Village Level Soil Testing Laboratory. Total 8313
Soil Testing Labs (1267 Static Soil Testing Labs, 168 Mobile Soil Testing Labs, 6197 Mini
Soil Testing Labs and 681 Village Level Soil Testing Labs) have been established under the
scheme. Citizen charter has been prepared and issued on 25.10.2023 for timely delivery of
SHCs to the farmers. As per citizen charter, entire activity of soil sample collection, testing,
generation of SHC and issue of recommendations to farmers should be completed within
25 days (30 days in case of hilly & north eastern states) of sample collection.Annexure-I
State-wise details of Soil Health Cards generated under Soil Health & Fertility Scheme
since inception i.e. 2014-15 till date
(In Numbers)
S. No. States/UTs Number of Soil Health Cards issued to Farmers
1 Andaman & Nicobar 53548
2 Andhra Pradesh 16247087
3 Arunachal Pradesh 217606
4 Assam 4402295
5 Bihar 15824822
6 Chhattisgarh 10160966
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
7 15797
and Daman & Diu
8 Goa 92587
9 Gujarat 15359628
10 Haryana 10411716
11 Himachal Pradesh 1639073
12 Jammu & Kashmir 2288059
13 Jharkhand 1569112
14 Karnataka 18099620
15 Kerala 3569784
16 Ladakh 5575
17 Madhya Pradesh 21382112
18 Maharashtra 28523314
19 Manipur 253318
20 Meghalaya 529395
21 Mizoram 99926
22 Nagaland 478954
23 Odisha 6386575
24 Puducherry 46221
25 Punjab 3108467
26 Rajasthan 20439948
27 Sikkim 210453
28 Tamil Nadu 15621730
29 Telangana 11242403
30 Tripura 411011
31 Uttar Pradesh 41184919
32 Uttarakhand 2020485
33 West Bengal 10739004
Total 262635510
Source: SHC Portal
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