BS EDIT: Can soil health cards transform Indian agriculture?

Published On Feb 24, 2025

The fertiliser imbalance

• Excessive nitrogen harms soil & groundwater

• NPK ratio (7.7:3.1:1) is far from the ideal (4:2:1)

10 years of SHC

• 247M soil health cards issued

• 8,272 labs, including 665 village-level STLs

• 29M hectares mapped in 40 districts

Tech-powered testing

• SHC mobile app tracks soil samples

• Geospatial tech aids precision mapping

• 1,020 schools in soil-health awareness

Key challenges

• Lab shortages & infrastructure gaps

• Delayed reports, low farmer adoption

• Poor awareness of SHC recommendations

AI & agritech solutions

• Portable AI soil kits enable faster testing

• KRISHI-RASTAA completes 12 tests in 30 min

• Agritech startups offer scalable solutions

The way forward

• Boost farmer awareness & real-time advisory

• Upgrade labs & ensure timely reports

• Expand AI & geospatial tech in farming

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