More than 22 crores Soil Health Cards have been distributed to farmers to date.
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda has asked farmers to reduce excessive use of Urea, which he pointed out, is spoiling the soil health. Recently, he was speaking at a webinar on Self-Reliant India and Sustainable Agriculture organized by IFFCO for the farmers of Karnataka. He called upon farmers to use fertilizers based on soil health cards.
More than 22 crores Soil Health Cards have been distributed to farmers to date. The Soil Health Card scheme was launched by the government in 2015 with a view to addressing the decline of soil nutrients.
Saying that efforts are on to reduce dependency on the import of Urea, he informed that by 2023 India will be self-reliant in the production of fertilizers.
The nano fertilizers which are 25 to 30 per cent cheaper, have resulted in 18 to 35 per cent higher yield and kept the soil in good health. The Minister said that the production of nano fertilizers will be increased. He blamed black marketing for the creation of artificial scarcity of Urea in the state. The fertilizer dealers, agents and distributors’ godown and outlets were raided and the licenses of 48 distributors were canceled for black marketing.
The Agriculture Ministry has informed that the soil health card has enabled the farmers to understand the soil health parameters and improve its productivity by judicious application of soil nutrients.
During the webinar, around 1,500 farmers had attended the live telecast on YouTube and Facebook.
