Vol. 10, Special Issue 11 (2021)

Author(s):
Sanjeev Verma, VK Verma, RD Barpete, SS Dhakad, Anil Shinde, Vijay Agrawal and Deepali Bajpai

Abstract:
Soil health and fertility is the basis for sustainable profitability of the farmers. Using optimal doses of fertilizers and cropping pattern as per the scientific recommendation is the first step towards sustainable farming. Soil testing is a science based and time-tested tool for assessment of soil fertility status and soil ailments and for nutrient amendment recommendations. Soil testing, as a tool for judicious fertilizer use, works on the principle of profitability, meaning if all other factors of production are at optimum and none of them limiting, there is all probability to obtain more profitable response to applied nutrients based on soil testing than those applied on adhoc basis. The report assess the impact of Soil Health card Scheme of Government of India. The paper has analysed the impact of Soil Health Card Scheme on farmers’ income by studying the economics of cultivation of three major kharif crops paddy, soybean and maize in Madhya Pradesh. For study, data were collected from 30 soil tested farmers/beneficiaries before and after application of recommended doses of fertilizers (RDF). The study has found that yield of paddy, soybean and maize increased by 19.42 per cent, 13.79 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively after adoption of RDF. The net income per acre increased from 11231 to 17385 (54.8%) in paddy, from 6696 to 11228 (67.7%) in soybean and from 3380 to 8105 (139.8%) in maize after soil testing by the farmers. The BC ratio increased from 1.5 to 1.7 in paddy, from 1.6 to 2.0 in soybean and from 1.4 to 1.9 in maize on adoption of RDF by the farmers. Thus, soil health card scheme was found highly beneficial to the farmers in term of increasing their income. However, there is a need to generate awareness about the benefits of this scheme among the farmers on one hand and strengthening of soil testing services / laboratories on the other hand for a wider adoption of RDF.