Description
- Soil Health Card scheme is an intervention under NMSA, which is proposed for periodic testing of soil and to recommend nutrient management.
- The scheme will be implemented in all the States and the cost of the interventions proposed under the scheme will be shared in the ratio of 75:25 between the Central and the State Governments.
Objective(s)
- Issuance of soil health cards every 3 years to all farmers so as to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices;
- Strengthening the functioning of Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) through capacity building, involvement of agriculture students and effective linkage with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural Universities (SAUs).
- Diagnosing soil fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across states and analysis and design taluka / block level fertilizer recommendations in targeted districts.
- Developing and promoting soil-test-based nutrient management in the districts for enhancing nutrient use efficiency.
- Building capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers for promotion of nutrient management practices.
Components
- Issue of Soil Health Cards;
- Training for soil analysis;
- Financial assistance for package of nutrient recommendations; and
- Capacity building and M&E.
Institutional Framework
National level
- The National Advisory Committee (NAC) constituted under NMSA will be the policy-formulating body guiding the mission and reviewing its progress. Operational guidelines will be laid out and amended by the NAC.
- The Executive Committee (EC) will oversee the activities of the schemes and approve the State Action Plans in accordance with the prescribed norms. It is empowered to reallocate resources across states & components and approve projects based on the approved financial norms.
- The INM Division in the MoAFW indicates the provisions for each component, provides guidance to the states in organizational and technical matters, oversees the dissemination, implementation, M&E of scheme interventions, etc. It also engages technical experts and constitutes Project Management Team.
State-level
- State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) approves the Annual Action Plan prepared by the State Nodal Department, oversees the implementation of the scheme components, and provides inputs to the EC for appropriate policy-formulation.
- State Dept of Agriculture shall be the nodal department for implementation. It prepares Annual State Level Action Plan by compiling District-wise Action Plan, submits it to the SLEC for approval and thereafter to the EC. It receives funds from the DAC & FW for implementation and oversees the same.
District-level
- District-Level Executive Committee (DLEC) is responsible for carrying forward the objectives of the scheme for project formulation, implementation & monitoring.
The office of Joint/Deputy Director (Agriculture) shall be the district nodal agency.
Fund-Flow Mechanism
The INM Division in DAC examines the Annual Action Plan (AAP) approved by SLEC before it is placed before the EC for consideration and sanction of AAP. Funds will be allocated to the States and Implementing Agencies by the DAC based on the following parameters:
- 36% weightage to the proportion of irrigated area in state to total irrigated area of the country and
- 64% weightage to the proportion of rainfed area in state to total rainfed area of the country.
- Funds would be released to the States / Implementing Agencies in Installments.
- d) States/ implementing agencies need to furnish utilization certificate (UC) in the prescribed format Form GFR 19-A and physical & financial progress report containing physical and financial targets of the previous grants-in-aid, if any, before requesting for release of subsequent installment.
- Unspent balance and physical & financial progress report of the previous grant will be taken into account while sanctioning the subsequent grant.
- No release of the 2nd installment would be made after January, only the re-allocated funds will be released to the better performing States