Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal, while taking Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's vision forward, has directed to conduct soil test of 25 lakh acres of land in the current financial year on priority basis so that every farm is a healthy farm. The Chief Minister was presiding over the review meeting of the Soil Health Card Scheme here today.It is noteworthy that the Chief Minister had made announcements in this regard to benefit the farmers during his budget speech. The Chief Minister said that soil health cards should be issued to farmers after checking every acre of agricultural land in the state so that farmers avoid unnecessary use of fertilizers and add nutrients to the land as required. This will not only increase the fertility of the land, but it will also be beneficial for the farmers. The Chief Minister also directed the officers of the Agriculture Department to prepare a year-long calendar in which dates are fixed for making farmers aware through soil testing, Kisan Sabha and exhibition etc.
75 lakh acres of agricultural land will be tested in three years
In this comprehensive scheme, the Chief Minister directed to complete the work of soil testing of 75 lakh acres of agricultural land in the state in three years. During the meeting, he also took detailed information about the laboratories to be made for this test and necessary equipment. Along with this, he was also apprised about the expenses for the construction of these laboratories.
Soil health card will contain different kinds of information
The Chief Minister said that in the soil health card, the information related to the nutrients present in the soil of the field would be mentioned in detail. This will include information regarding the amount of soil fertility, nitrogen, organic carbon, zinc and phosphorus etc. He said that after the card is made a plan to create awareness among farmers about the card should be formulated as well. The card will also hold information about which soil is deficient in which nutrients and by fulfilling the deficiency, farmers will be able to take maximum benefit from the cultivation of which crop. He said that the soil fertility map of every village would also be prepared from this test, which would also facilitate in giving advice to the farmers.
Students will get employment
The Chief Minister said that under this scheme, students of college and senior secondary schools would be engaged in the work of collecting samples and testing them in the lab. With this, students will be able to learn along with earning. Students will not only do this work with interest but they will also get to learn a lot from it. The Chief Minister said that students from the villages from where samples will be taken will be tasked with this project. Kisan Mitra will also play an important role in this scheme. Training will also be provided to Kisan Mitra.Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Sh. TVSN Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Smt. Sumita Misra, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V Umashankar, Director General, Agriculture Department, Sh. Hardeep Singh and many other officers were present during the meeting.