Parliament Question: Soil Health Card Scheme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 360 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 21ST JULY, 2026 SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME 360. SHRI B Y RAGHAVENDRA: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी be pleased to state? (a) the salient features and major achievements of the Soil Health Card Scheme and the progress made since its inception; (b) the State-wise details of soil samples analysed and Soil Health Cards issued, including district-wise details for Karnataka, along with the funds released to the Karnataka State; (c) the details of soil testing laboratories and Village Level Soil Testing Labs established and operationalised, State-wise including district-wise details for Karnataka; (d) the initiatives taken to promote balanced fertilizer use through Soil Health Card recommendations, including farmer awareness, digital advisories and extension services; and (e) the steps taken to expand soil testing infrastructure and promote Soil Health Card-based nutrient management, particularly in rain-fed, hilly and Malnad regions, including digital and mobile soil testing facilities? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण रा(cid:475) मं(cid:361)ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a) The Government is implementing Soil Health and Fertility Scheme to assist State Governments to issue Soil Health Cards (SHCs) to farmers across the country. SHCs assist in promoting Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through judicious use of chemical fertilizers including secondary and micro-nutrients along with organic manures & bio- fertilizers, for improving soil health and fertility. Soil samples are processed as per standard procedures and analyzed for parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity, Organic Carbon, available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, and micronutrients (Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese & Boron). The diagnostic soil health assessment of farmer fields is taken up periodically so as to issue SHCs at least once in 3 years. Since 2014-15, 26.09 crore Soil Health Cards have been generated/ distributed as on date across the country. 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 across the country. Under the scheme, Rs. 2153.04 crore fund has been released so far since inception. (b): The State-wise details of soil samples analysed and Soil Health Cards issued under the scheme since inception i.e. from 2014-15 till date are at Annexure-I. District-wise details of soil samples analysed and Soil Health Cards issued along with the funds released to the Karnataka State from 2014-15 till date are at Annexure-II.(c): The State-wise details of soil testing laboratories established and operationalised, are at Annexure-III and District-wise details of soil testing laboratories established and operationalised are at Annexure-IV (d) & (e): Under Soil Health & Fertility Scheme, 130627 farmer’s trainings, 7.17 lakh demonstrations, 7425 farmer’s Melas/ campaigns on soil health card recommendations have been organized across the country to promote balanced use of fertilizer. Advisories are also issued to farmers through Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). School Soil Health Programme is implemented to inculcate awareness among students about importance of soil. Farmers can access digital SHCs through portal. Financial assistance under the scheme is provided to states to set up and strengthen soil testing labs. Benefits of scheme can be taken by farmers in Karnataka including rain-fed, hilly and Malnad regionsAnnexure-I State-wise details of soil samples analysed and Soil Health Cards issued under Soil Health and Fertility Scheme since inception i.e. 2014-15 (In Numbers) S. States/UTs Soil Sample Analysed* Soil Health Card Issued No. 1 Andaman & Nicobar 44432 53027 2 Andhra Pradesh 4481556 15897865 3 Arunachal Pradesh 190442 212570 4 Assam 2359646 4399318 5 Bihar 5494430 15770294 6 Chhattisgarh 2362697 10107163 7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 5641 15797 and Daman & Diu 8 Goa 91048 91611 9 Gujarat 4837914 15352841 10 Haryana 4168617 10407660 11 Himachal Pradesh 410137 1586278 12 Jammu & Kashmir 863521 2266113 13 Jharkhand 851100 1562892 14 Karnataka 4528048 18710391 15 Kerala 741757 3559840 16 Ladakh 5114 5114 17 Madhya Pradesh 8048634 21164819 18 Maharashtra 7478452 28384256 19 Manipur 65055 252672 20 Meghalaya 173928 519666 21 Mizoram 82534 87006 22 Nagaland 317940 464602 23 Odisha 3157800 6325929 24 Puducherry 25106 46199 25 Punjab 2360297 3101539 26 Rajasthan 6646344 20272888 27 Sikkim 126414 209954 28 Tamil Nadu 4172143 15611280 29 Telangana 2601250 11169204 30 Tripura 193637 402163 31 Uttar Pradesh 13445847 40961769 32 Uttarakhand 637023 1995186 33 West Bengal 3795742 10724479 Total 84605893 260925492 Source: SHC Portal *Grid System of soil sample collection was implemented from 2014-15 to 2018-19. Grid of 2.5 hectare in irrigated area and grid of 10 hectare in non-irrigated area was formed. In grid system only one soil sample was collected and tested. Based on one sample Soil Health cards were issued to all the farmers in the grid. This system was done away from 2019-20 and individual farm holding based SHC generation was implemented. Therefore, there is difference in soil sample analyzed and SHC generated.Annexure-II District-wise details of soil samples analysed and Soil Health Cards issued along with the funds released under Soil Health and Fertility Scheme in Karnataka since 2014-15 till date (Rs. in lakh) S. District Soil samples Soil Health Cards Fund release No Analysed Issued (GOI share) 1 Bagalkote 1,75,822 5,25,279 501.20 2 Ballari 2,20,357 8,44,011 360.86 3 Belagavi 66,841 10,35,690 156.01 4 Bengaluru Rural 56,690 3,29,315 36.39 5 Bengaluru Urban 2,95,714 1,72,246 1978.20 6 Bidar 1,45,452 6,29,924 236.68 7 Chamarajanagara 1,08,021 5,72,395 160.13 8 Chikkaballapura 1,11,171 7,22,726 198.95 9 Chikkamagaluru 1,00,427 2,67,044 169.80 10 Chitradurga 1,67,666 6,29,544 525.75 11 Dakshina 82,774 3,21,364 191.06 Kannada 12 Davangere 1,25,152 6,07,155 264.03 13 Dharwad 1,10,650 3,95,539 223.01 14 Gadag 1,26,887 3,32,702 237.91 15 Hassan 1,94,420 11,50,238 275.93 16 Haveri 1,51,346 569,409 236.24 17 Kalaburagi 2,50,367 12,56,732 437.46 18 Kodagu 88,868 1,41,815 121.11 19 Kolar 94,284 6,06,942 166.18 20 Koppal 1,50,142 4,57,057 246.30 21 Mandya 2,50,091 11,91,069 287.44 22 Mysuru 2,25,114 8,67,768 279.81 23 Raichur 1,44,725 7,01,148 281.51 24 Bengaluru South 88,162 5,72,252 155.93 25 Shivamogga 1,41,815 4,73,228 243.83 26 Tumakuru 2,90,654 10,73,879 344.21 27 Udupi 62,151 4,12,409 123.04 28 Uttara Kannada 94,902 3,42,664 166.95 29 Vijayanagar 24,241 24,241 61.49 30 Vijayapura 2,21,562 7,49,775 470.60 31 Yadgir 1,61,580 7,34,831 294.34 Total 45,28,048 187,10,391 9432.35 Source: State GovernmentAnnexure-III State-wise details of soil testing laboratories established and operationalised under Soil Health and Fertility Scheme (In Numbers) Soil Testing Laboratories S. No. State Static Mobile Mini Village Total Level 1 Andaman & Nicobar 1 - - - 1 2 Andhra Pradesh 47 13 1328 16 1404 3 Arunachal Pradesh 17 3 - - 20 4 Assam 26 - 214 - 240 5 Bihar 53 9 - 72 134 6 Chhattisgarh 33 - 111 35 179 7 Dadra & Nagar - - - - - Haveli and Daman & Diu 8 Goa 2 - - - 2 9 Gujarat 22 - 230 30 282 10 Haryana 53 - 104 36 193 11 Himachal Pradesh 11 7 69 - 87 12 Jammu & Kashmir 22 12 - 21 55 13 Jharkhand 29 - 1300 - 1329 14 Karnataka 97 1 6 291 395 15 Kerala 22 11 - - 33 16 Ladakh 2 - - 1 3 17 Madhya Pradesh 50 - 626 12 688 18 Maharashtra 213 31 48 - 292 19 Manipur 9 3 3 2 17 20 Meghalaya 5 - 8 - 13 21 Mizoram 3 3 - - 6 22 Nagaland 20 3 - 74 97 23 Odisha 30 30 - 40 100 24 Puducherry 2 - - - 2 25 Punjab 24 3 - - 27 26 Rajasthan 101 12 - - 113 27 Sikkim 3 - - 24 27 28 Tamil Nadu 37 21 - 1 59 29 Telangana 40 4 2050 - 2094 30 Tripura 4 2 100 13 119 31 Uttar Pradesh 256 - - 6 262 32 Uttarakhand 13 - - 7 20 33 West Bengal 21 - - - 21 TOTAL 1267 168 6197 681 8313 Source: SHC PortalAnnexure-IV District-wise details of soil testing laboratories in Karnataka (In Numbers) S.No District Agriculture Co- Village Horticulture Sericultur SAUs/ Total . department lab operatives level static lab e static KVKs /Pvt KVK lab static static mobile mini static lab lab 1 Bagalkote 1 - - - 7 - - 3 11 2 Ballari 1 - 1 - 3 - - 2 7 3 Belagavi 1 1 2 37 1 0 42 4 Bengaluru 1 - 1 - 1 1 1 3 8 5 uBrebnagna luru 0 - - - 2 - - 1 3 Rural 6 Bidar 1 - - - 3 1 2 7 7 Chamarajanag 1 - - - 5 - - 1 7 ara 8 Chikkaballapur 1 - - - 5 - - 0 6 9 Chikkamagalur 1 - - - 18 - - 3 22 u 10 Chitradurga 1 - - - 23 - - 3 27 11 Dakshinakanna 1 - - - 4 - - 0 5 da 12 Davanagere 1 - - - 8 1 1 11 13 Dharwad 1 - - - 3 - - 4 8 14 Gadag 1 - - - 4 - - 1 6 15 Hassan 1 - - - 5 - - 2 8 16 Haveri 1 1 19 - - 2 23 17 Kalburgi 1 - 1 - 18 - - 3 23 18 Kodagu 1 - - - 3 - - 1 5 19 Kolar 1 - - - 9 - - 2 12 20 Koppal 1 - - - 3 1 3 8 21 Mandya 1 - 1 - 6 - 2 10 22 Mysuru 1 - - - 3 1 - 0 5 23 Raichur 1 - - - 3 - - 4 8 24 Bengaluru - - - - - 1 22 1 24 South 25 Shivamogga 1 - - - 21 1 - 3 26 26 Tumakur 1 - 1 - 5 - - 1 8 27 Udupi 1 - - - 13 - - 2 16 28 Uttarakannada 1 - - - 5 - - 2 8 29 Vijayanagara 1 - - - - - 1 30 Vijayapura 1 - - 1 17 - - 3 22 31 Yadagiri 1 - - - 16 - - 1 18 Total 30 1 6 3 291 7 1 56 395 Source: State Government *****