Context
Every year India observes the Soil Health Card Day on 19 February to commemorate the launch of the Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme.
- 2022 marks the seventh year of the launch of the SHC Scheme.
Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme
- The Prime Minister launched the Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme on 19th February 2015 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan.
- The scheme aims at issuing soil health cards to all farmers every two years.
- The card would provide details about the nutritional deficiencies in the soil so that the farmers can supplement the soil with suitable fertilizers and increase the yields.
- Soil Health Card (SHC) is a printed report which contains nutrient status of soil with respect to 12 nutrients: pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon (OC), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Zinc (Zn), Boron (B), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn) and Copper (Cu) of farm holdings.
- The scheme has been introduced to assist State Governments to issue Soil Health Cards to all farmers in the country.
- It provides information to farmers on the nutrient status of their soil along with recommendations on the appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.
