Compendium on Soil Health - Department of Agriculture & Co ...

Strengthening existing
soil testing
laboratories for
micronutrient testing.
Staffing of
laboratories
Preparation of Soil
Fertility Maps.
Popularizing soil test
based application of
fertilizers including
demonstration and
publicity.
Successes/Best Practices
Three numbers of AAS have already been installed. Eight
numbers of AAS will be purchased and installed in a phased
manner in the coming years.
All vacancies will be filled up.
The fertility maps for 23 Agro-ecological zones of the state will
be prepared for which the soil sample collection has been
completed and analysis is being carried out.
Field level demonstrations and campaigns will be conducted
under central and state schemes.
1. The district soil testing laboratory, Kasargod District which is a border district with
Karnataka, with its limited infrastructure has prepared comprehensive fertility maps
for each panchayats and issued bilingual (Malayalam and Kannada) soil health cards to
all the farmers. The project was taken up with a financial assistance of local Self
Government, Kasargod.
2. The State will implement a new scheme during 2011-12 for popularizing manures and
fertilizers application based on soil health cards:
• 230 reference plots have been selected from within 5 cropping patterns in the State.
• One Panchayat from each district will be adopted by the district soil testing laboratory.
• All the basic data like holding size, details of productivity etc. will be collected and
incorporated in the base maps already available with the district soil survey unit.
• Soil samples representing different parts of the Panchayat will be collected and soil
health cards will be prepared.
• A total of 15 demonstration plots having 30 cent minimum area under different
cropping pattern will be selected from the adopted Panchayat to demonstrate the
input application, based on soil health cards.
• Assistance will be given to the tune of Rs. 3,600/- to Rs. 12,000/- base of the crops for
the application of inputs as per the soil test data.
• Frequent visits by the departmental staff will be made to monitor the implementation
of the scheme.
• The farmers of the Panchayat will be motivated to adopt the technologies used in the
demonstrations plots through different activities to increase the productivity of their
crops to the level of the reference plot selected.