Agriculture News : Promotion of Soil Test Based Balanced Use of Fertilizers

To maintain soil health and its productivity, The Government is promoting soil test based balanced and judicious use of chemical fertilizers, bio-fertilizers and locally available organic manures like Farm Yard Manure, compost, Vermi Compost and Green manure.

‘Soil Health Card’ (SHC) scheme has been launched. Soil health cards provide information to farmers on nutrients status of their soil along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.

In order to reduce use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the country, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is recommending Integrated Pest Management and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) envisaging conjunctive use of both inorganic and organic sources of nutrients.

Under the ambit of (IPM) programme, the Government has established 31 Central IPM Centres to educate farmers about mechanical, cultural and biological control measures including use of bio pesticides against different crop pests and weeds and judicious use of chemical pesticides as a measure of last resort.

Source: http://pib.nic.in