Soil Health Card Scheme (SHC)

 About

·       Soil Health Card Scheme is a scheme launched by the by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India on 19 February 2015.

·       SHC is a printed report that a farmer will be handed over for each of his holdings. It will contain the status of his soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K (Macro-nutrients) ; S (Secondary- nutrient) ; Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro-nutrients) ; and pH, EC, OC (Physical parameters). Based on this, the SHC will also indicate fertilizer recommendations and soil amendment required for the farm.

·       It will be made available once in a cycle of 3 years, which will indicate the status of soil health of a farmer’s holding for that particular period. The SHC given in the next cycle of 3 years will be able to record the changes in the soil health for that subsequent period.

Aim

·       The scheme aims at promoting soil test based and balanced use of fertilisers to enable farmers to realise higher yields at lower cost. 

·       It also aims to aware growers about the appropriate amount of nutrients for the concerned crop depending on the quality of soil.

Benefit of the scheme

·       It reduces the cost of crop cultivation: Site- and crop-specific recommendations cut down the cost of excessive unwanted fertilizer use.

·       It increases farm income: Balanced judicious management of nutrients will reduce the cost and result in greater net gain.

·       Increased crop productivity is achieved: When the soil stays in good health enriched with optimum nutrients required for crop growth, boosted productivity is ensured.

·       Improvement in soil health is ensured: Proper management helps in bridging the nutrients gap, thereby ensuring good soil health.

Limitations of the scheme

·       In India many farmers are unable to understand the content, hence unable to follow the recommended practices. If the farmers are unaware of the importance of SHCs, then it is just like a piece of paper generating garbage. Awareness should be created among them about the importance of site-specific nutrients management.

·       There is a lack of Coordination among agricultural extension officers and farmers.

·       The soil health card is more focused on chemical nutrient indicators, important indicators like cropping history, soil moisture, slope of soil, color of soil, soil texture and Micro-biological activity etc. are not included.

·       In the Indian scenario, the demand is high whereas resources are limited which causes delay and non-uniformity in report generation. Meagre infrastructure, and scarcity of resources and manpower at times are a hindrance in achieving the goals in the limited time period.

·       Lack of specified guidelines brings non-uniformity in the results, leading to improper data compilation at a larger scale.