Soil Health

The Green Revolution (GR), probably the greatest achievement of post-independence India, heralded an era of food sufficiency riding on the use of chemical fertilisers. Now, more than 50 years on, soil health is rapidly declining. There is ample evidence to show that indiscriminate use of fertilizers is the major cause of deteriorating soil health.

Recent Developments

Soil Health is Declining in India: Report

  • Carbon Content in India’s Soil Decreases: According to a recent report by a Consortium of Agriculture Institutes, out of 350 million hectares of soil in India, 120 million hectares has already turned problematic, that is, either the soil has turned acidic, saline, or alkaline. The carbon content in the soil is found to be decreasing while the salinity is increasing. Coupled with the excess spraying of fertilisers that affects the nutritional value of the soil, the report suggests that the country is on the verge of a soil crisis that can have a big impact on agriculture productivity, sustainability and also on human health.

Pesticide Residues: A Non-Tariff Barrier to Agriculture Exports

  • In 2017-18, India’s exports and imports of agricultural produce were valued at $ 38.74 billion and $24.89 billion, respectively. In 2013-14, the exports were higher ($ 43.25 billion) and imports lower ($15.53 billion). In the process, our agri trade surplus has narrowed from $27.72 billion to $ 13.85 billion.
  • The above deterioration can be partly attributed to the rise in non-price, non-tariff barriers: the countries importing Indian farm produce are subjecting them particularly to rigorous analysis for pesticide residues, often at less than parts per million (ppm) levels.

Conditions Imposed on Indian Foods

  • In August 2014, the European Union (EU) imposed “specific conditions” on the import of okra and curry leaves from India.
  • From January 2018, the EU has further disallowed the import of any rice having levels of tricyclazole, a common fungicide, beyond 0.01 ppm.
  • The earlier MRL - the so-called tolerance level of the chemical in the said food — was 1 ppm or 1 mg/kg, which has now become 1 mg/100 kg.
  • And it’s not just EU, even Saudi Arabia has cited unacceptable pesticide levels (beyond its MRLs) to deny entry of green chillies and, more recently, cardamom shipments from India.

Implications for India

  • India annually uses about 60,000 tonnes of pesticides in terms of active ingredients. This is not only a fraction of what China, the US or many European and Latin American countries consume, but also below the 100,000-odd tonnes for a single state in the US; California.
  • It is necessary to note here that the number of registered pesticide molecules in India is hardly about 280, as against more than 500 in the EU and nearly 1,000 in the US. Even a country like Thailand uses more than 300 pesticides. It is obvious, then, that the farm produce from these origins would contain residues of pesticides, including those whose use isn’t even permitted in India.

India bans 18 Pesticides

  • Around three years after the Anupam Verma Committee submitted its recommendations, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has finally issued the Pesticides (Prohibition) Order, 2018, banning 18 pesticides. Of these 18, 12 pesticides have been banned from immediate effect (from August 09, 2018) and ban on another six will be implemented from December 31, 2020. The ban applies to registration, import, manufacture, formulation, transport, sale and use of all these pesticides.
  • Monocrotophos is one of the pesticides connected with the death of farmers in Maharashtra in 2017. The situation is grave since 5,000-7,000 people die every year of poisoning due to accidental intake of pesticides in India and Class I pesticides form about one-third of the pesticides consumed in India.

Government Initiatives to Improve Soil Health

  • The government determines the quantity of fertilizers to be imported based on their domestic availability. However, the process of fixing the quantity to be imported and actually receiving the imports takes about 60-70 days, since only three companies are allowed to import urea into the country. Thus, shortages are often caused in the urea market. Since farmers have to ensure that urea is applied to their crops on time, it leads to the growth of black markets selling urea, often at prices above the maximum retail prices.

Soil Health Card

  • Launched in 2015, the scheme has been introduced to assist State Governments to issue Soil Health Cards to all farmers in the country.
  • Soil Health Cards are necessary to ensure that only requisite nutrients are applied in the soil in a balanced manner to enhance productivity of specific crops in a sustainable manner.
  • Values on soil parameters such as pH, EC, N, P, K, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu & B.
  • Recommendation on appropriate dosage of fertilizer application based on test values and requirement of crop, use of organic manures and soil amendments to acidic/alkaline/sodic soils.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

  • It was launched on 1st July, 2015 with the motto of ‘Har Khet Ko Paani’ for providing end-to end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, distribution network and farm level applications.
  • PMKSY not only focuses on creating sources for assured irrigation, but also creating protective irrigation by harnessing rain water at micro level through ‘Jal Sanchay’ and ‘Jal Sinchan’.
  • Micro irrigation is to be popularized to ensure ‘Per drop-More crop’. PMKSY adopts State level planning and project-wise execution that allows States to draw up their own irrigation development based on District Irrigation Plans and State Irrigation Plans.

Performance of Soil Health Card Scheme

As of July 2015, only 34 lakh Soil Health Cards (SHC) were issued to farmers as against a target of 84 lakh for the year 2015–16. Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal were among the states which had not issued a single SHC under the scheme by then. The number grew up to 1.12 crore by February 2016. As of February 2016, against the target of 104 lakh soil samples, States reported a collection of 81 lakh soil samples and tested 52 lakh samples. Up to May 2017, 725 lakh Soil Health Cards have been distributed to the farmers.

Neem Coated Urea (NCU)

  • This scheme is initiated to regulate use of urea, enhance availability of nitrogen to the crop and reduce cost of fertilizer application. NCU slows down the release of fertilizer and makes it available to the crop in an effective manner. The entire quantity of domestically manufactured and imported urea is now neem coated. It reduces the cost of cultivation and improves soil health management.

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