About 48 crore soil health cards distributed to farmers

NEW DELHI: Over 48 crore soil health cards have been given to farmers to make them aware about nutrient deficiencies in their fields due to imbalanced use of fertilisers and low addition of organic matter.

Over 48.85 crore soil health cards have been distributed to farmers, majority of which are in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, up to March 2012, according to the official data.

As per the state-wise break-up, 11.81 crore farmers were provided with soil health cards in Uttar Pradesh alone.

In Karnataka 58.77 lakh cards were distributed while in Gujarat 44.73 lakh cards were given to farmers. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu saw 41.71 lakh and 39.80 lakh cards respectively.

Eastern states of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, where agriculture is the predominant occupation, faired badly with only 8.11 lakh, 3.08 and 1.66 lakh cultivators getting soil health cards respectively.

Punjab and Haryana saw 22.41 lakh and 11.58 lakh farmers respectively getting soil cards, as per the data.

Imbalanced use of fertilisers, low addition of organic matter and non-replacement of depleted micro and secondary nutrients over the years, has resulted in nutrient deficiencies and decrease in soil fertility in some parts of the country, particularly in intensively cultivated Indo-Gangetic plains.

The government is trying to improve soil health through promotion of soil test based balanced and judicious use of chemical fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and locality specific organic manures.