Soil health cards: Win-win in Kolhapur, falling fertiliser cost, rising yield

Like many farmers in his village and taluka, Patil had been using a set formula for fertilisers. In the light of the soil test results, however, the local agriculture assistant convinced him to slightly reduce the amount of urea (a nitrogenous fertiliser), and substantially cut superphosphate and Muriate of Potash (MOP).

Doing this brought down the overall fertiliser input cost for Patil — more importantly, the productivity of his land improved.

“The cost of fertiliser came down by Rs 2,000, and my per-acre yield increased by 10 tonnes. Instead of the 45 tonnes that I harvested earlier, I was able to harvest 55 tonnes that season,” he said.

Since then, Patil, who intercrops vegetables such as cauliflower and brinjal with sugarcane, has started tailoring his fertiliser use as per the soil health card. “Our village is lucky. All 100 acres of land has been tested and villagers have been issued soil health cards,” he said. All farmers were now reaping the double benefits of lower costs and higher outputs, he said.

Soil health cards were rolled out across the country in August 2015 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it a key agenda item. Soil samples are tested for the three macronutrients (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus), and the micronutrients boron, iron and zinc, along with organic carbon. The soil health cards tell farmers about the nutrient content of their land, and guide them in using fertilisers better. Some 2.59 crore soil health cards have been distributed in Maharashtra in two cycles since 2015.

Patil agreed to test his soil two years after the scheme was introduced, responding to sustained efforts by state and local officials. Mahavir Latkar, the district soil survey and testing officer, said 12 lakh soil health cards were issued in Kolhapur after training sessions were held for farmers, including coaching on how to read the cards. The path ahead is “not easy”, Latkar said. “It will require change in the farmers’ mindset. As of now, I can say we have managed to educate only 50 per cent of the farmers in the district.”

Even so, the fall in fertiliser usage in Kolhapur is encouraging. The reported usage of urea in the district fell from 66,200 tonnes in 2017-18 to 61,400 tonnes in 2018-19. In Maharashtra as a whole, urea consumption for 2018-19 was 2 lakh tonnes less than the 23.70 lakh tonnes in 2017-18.

The state Commissionerate of Agriculture is now working towards linking Aadhaar and phone numbers of farmers to their soil health cards. This, would allow the government to issue “fertiliser advisories” on the line of weather advisories, said Ashok Bankhele, deputy director (soil testing) in the Maharashtra government. Four advisories will be issued — one each before the start of the Rabi and Kharif seasons, and one each in the middle of both seasons.