Govt to launch statewide soil testing drive tomorrow
Lucknow: The state govt is set to launch a largescale soil sample collection drive on May 5 as part of the
soil health card scheme
. The campaign aims to collect 11.56 lakh soil samples for the upcoming Kharif season.
According to agriculture department officials, the scheme aims to saturate 16,520 gram panchayats across the state by 2025. Of these, 70% of soil samples will be collected during Kharif season from 11,564 panchayats, while the remaining 30% will be covered in the Rabi season.
Regional extension workers, laboratory officials, and scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendras will participate in the campaign.
For the first time, 7,684 trained 'Krishi Sakhis' from 50 districts have been engaged in the sample collection process. Each Sakhi will receive an honorarium of Rs 15 per sample. So far, 3.6 lakh samples have been collected. Testing revealed deficiencies in organic carbon (0.25–0.5%), nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, sulfur, zinc, and iron in the soil.
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Farmers will be provided with free soil health cards based on 12 key parameters, enabling them to apply fertilisers more scientifically and increase crop yield through balanced nutrient management. All data related to soil samples is available online on the soil health card portal.
Under the
Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
, 4,850 gram panchayats were covered in 2023 and 8,260 in 2024. This year, all 16,520 gram panchayats are being targeted. From each panchayat, 100 soil samples will be collected. In the Rabi season alone, 4.96 lakh samples will be taken from 4,956 panchayats.
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