Soil, water, and air pollution, as well as damage to non-target creatures such as plants, birds, mammals, fish, and crops. Erosion is often accelerated by agricultural practices that leave the soil without adequate plant cover and therefore exposed to raindrop splash and surface runoff or wind. The Soil Health Card Scheme also called SHC scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India on 19th February 2015 at Suratgarh, Rajasthan. The loss of soil cover and the exposure of dark soil surfaces to heating by the sun increases soil temperatures. Higher soil temperatures can be detrimental to many soil macrofauna, mesofauna, and microfauna and result in the loss of soil water needed by some animals to move around within the soil. Imbalanced fertilization induced land degradation has forced us to start re-working on balanced nutrient application and go in for adopting integrated nutrient management (INM) strategy for enhancing the nutrient use efficiency, raising the farm income, and ensuring the environmental protection. Increasing the food production/productivity from currently available arable land area is a must. The per-hectare consumption is more than 100 kg in Punjab (190 kg), Haryana (167 kg), Andhra Pradesh (138 kg), Uttar Pradesh, and Uttaranchal (127 kg), West Bengal (122 kg), and Tamil Nadu (112 kg). Punjab consumes the highest amount of chemical fertilisers in India. Gujarat, the top fertiliser producer in India, has over 25% of phosphatic and nitrogenous fertilisers. Sikkim has banned chemical fertilizer for sustainable agriculture in India
The Soil Health Card Scheme in India has had a significant impact on fertilizer consumption at the farm level across various states. Here are some key findings from studies conducted on the impact of the scheme:
1. **Decrease in Fertilizer Use**: The application of fertilizers as per the recommendations on the Soil Health Cards has led to a decrease in the use of chemical fertilizers in the range of 8-10%².
2. **Increase in Crop Yield**: There has been an overall increase in the yield of crops due to the application of fertilizer and micro-nutrients as per the recommendations available in the Soil Health Cards. The increase in yield is reported to be around 5-6%².
3. **Savings on Fertilizers**: The judicious use of fertilizers has resulted in savings on nitrogen fertilizers like urea, thereby reducing the cost of cultivation. For instance, in the case of rice, the cost of cultivation is reduced by 16-25% and savings of nitrogen is found to be around 20kg/acre².
4. **Increase in Income**: The savings on fertilizers and increase in production have also resulted in increased income for farmers. For example, there has been an increase in income around Rs.4500/- per acre in paddy².
These impacts vary from state to state and depend on various factors such as the type of soil, the crop being grown, and the specific recommendations given in the Soil Health Cards. It's important to note that these are general trends and the actual impact can vary based on individual circumstances. For more detailed state-wise data, you may want to refer to specific studies or reports¹².
(1) Study on Impact of Soil Health Card Scheme - Press Information Bureau. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/Study%20on%20Impact%20of%20Soil%20Health%20Card%20Scheme.pdf.
(2) Citation: Reddy A Amarender (2017) - MANAGE. https://www.manage.gov.in/publications/reports/shc.pdf.
(3) Impact of Soil Health Card on Fertilizer Consumption and Yield of .... https://ndpublisher.in/admin/issues/EAv62n1h.pdf.
(4) Impact Study ofSoil Health Card Scheme - Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/42109414/Impact_Study_ofSoil_Health_Card_Scheme.
(5) Impact of Soil Health Card on use of Chemical Fertilizers: A study in .... http://cdedse.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/4Impact-of-Soil-Health-Card-on-use-of-Chemical-Fertilizers.pdf.
The most commonly used fertilisers in agriculture are nitrogenous fertilisers. Nitrogen (N) is a major element in plant nutrition, as it is the nutrient that makes up proteins, nucleic acids, amino acids and chlorophyll. NPK fertilizers are the most commonly used type in India, with urea being the most popular among them. The domestic consumption of urea was higher than the volume produced domestically. nitrogen is the main nutrient affecting soil pH, and soils can become more acidic or more alkaline. N, P,K and S) have the major effects on soil pH as they are added in much larger quantities to soil than micronutrients. The key molecules of N in terms of changes in soil pH are the uncharged urea molecule ([CO(NH₂)₂]0), the cation ammonium (NH₄+) and the anion nitrate (NO₃-). The conversion of N from one form to the other involves the generation or consumption of acidity, and the uptake of urea, ammonium or nitrate by plants will also affect acidity of soil attached figure.