Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday directed soil testing of 25 lakh acres of land in the current financial year on priority basis in the state.
Presiding over the review meeting of the Soil Health Card Scheme here, Khattar 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, he said.
He said that the soil fertility map of every village would also be prepared, which would also facilitate giving advice to the farmers. The Chief Minister 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. He also 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. 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.
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 added.
The Chief Minister said that under this project, the students of college and senior secondary schools would be engaged in the work of collecting soil samples and testing them in the lab. With this, students will be able to learn along with earning.
He 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, he added.