Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme - Manual for District-Level Functionaries

Soil health card scheme is one of the flagship programmes of Government of India that was launched in February 2015. Schemes managed by Integrated Management (INM) Division in the Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (AC&FW), Government of India (GoI). This scheme was launched to help farmers to know their soil health condition as represented by 12 important soil parameters (viz. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, pH, EC, Organic Carbon, Sulphur, Zinc, Boron, Iron, Manganese and Copper) and follow management practices accordingly.

Under this scheme, soil samples collected from different locations are analyzed in the Soil Testing Labs (STL) as per the norms provided in the scheme’s operational guidelines. The results are uploaded in the national Soil Health Card portal which has been developed for registration of soil samples, recording test results of soil samples and generation of Soil Health Cards (SHCs) along with fertilizer recommendations besides an information module for monitoring progress. To issue Soil Health Cards (SHCs) to all 14 Crore holdings in the country about 2.53 Crore samples are to be analyzed. The cycle is proposed to be implemented in two years, with a target of 1 Crore samples for the year 2015-16 and 1.53 Crore samples in the year 2016-17.