Soil Health Card Day

Why in News?

• Soil Health Card Day is being celebrated on 19 February

Soil Health Card Scheme:

• Launch: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• Year: 19 February, 2015
• Location: Suratgarh, Rajasthan
• Motto: “Healthy Earth, Green Fields”
• Objectives:
  • Issue Soil Health Card to farmers every two years
  • Strengthen Soil Testing Laboratories (STL)
  • Increase collaboration with agricultural universities
  • Diagnose the problem of soil fertility in the states
  • Standardized sampling process
  • Promote soil test based nutrient management in districts
  • Assist farmers for balanced use of nutrients
    • Provide corrective measures
• Soil Health Card Portal:
  • Uniform in all major languages ​​and 5 dialects across the country
  • Provides facility to generate Soil Health Card for the benefit of farmers in a standardized format.
• Key Features of Soil Health Card Scheme:
  • Soil Health Card is a printed report
  • It is handed over to a farmer for each of his holdings.
  • The card gives the status of the soil based on 12 major parameters, such as:
    • Macro Nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K)
    • Secondary Nutrients: Sulphur (S)
    • Micro Nutrients: Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B)
  • Physical Parameters: pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon (OC)
• Based on this, SHC will also indicate the fertilizer recommendations and soil amendments required for the farm. 
• In the form of Soil Card, farmers get a report
  • This report contains all the details about the soil of their particular farm.
• A farm will get a Soil Card once in every three years.
• This scheme has been implemented for farmers all across the country.