Sustainability of an agricultural productivity depends on the quality and availability of natural resources like land, air and water. Thus, to conserve and manage for sustainable use of these scarce natural resources, the government is implementing Soil Health Management (SHM) scheme across the state on a mission mode under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), MoAFW.
SHM is aimed on promoting location based crop specific sustainable soil health management; creating and linking soil fertility maps with macro-micro nutrient management; judicious and effective application of bio-fertilizers and manure as an organic farming practices.
Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme in the state is implemented with following objectives:
• To issue soil health cards to the farmers, so as to analyze and provide them with the status of their soil nutrient content.
• To diagnose soil nutrient/ fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across the states and analysis and design taluqa/ block level fertilizer recommendations in targeted districts.
• To develop and promote soil test based nutrient management in the districts for enhancing nutrient use efficiency.
• To build capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers/krishisakis for promotion of nutrient management practices through training and demonstration.
It also ensures quality control requirements of fertilizers, bio-fertilizers and organic fertilisers by setting up quality control laboratories. Promotion of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through judicious use of fertilizers, including secondary and micro nutrients, in conjunction with organic manures and bio-fertilizers, for improving soil health and its productivity for posterity.
A Soil Health Card is meant to give information/ knowledge to each farmer the soil nutrient status of his/her holding and advice on the dosage of fertilizer and also the needed soil amendments that should apply to maintain sound soil health in the long run. As the animals require food in the form of carbohydrate, protein, fat, minerals & vitamins, the plants also need certain nutrients for their growth and survival. Soil Health Card also indicates/ provides fertilizer recommendation and soil amendment on organic manures required for their farm.
GPS enabled soil-sampling survey for maintaining systematic database bank that will facilitate better monitoring and evaluating the status of the soil health across the state over the years.
In line with the guidelines and the objectives set by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the government will be implementing SHM & SHC during 2020-21. The proposal includes establishment of STLs in all the districts and Mini labs in the blocks level, distribution and promotion of micronutrients, farmers training, demonstration and soil sample analysis to provide soil health cards to the farmers in the state. Also to meet the requirement of the bio-fertilizers in the state bio fertilizer production units will be set up on phase wise manner in the districts from 2021 to 2026.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s message on occasion of World Soil Day (December 5)
Issued By: Directorate of Soil and Water Conservation, Nagaland
