Speaking before farmers on the occasion of World Soil Day in Haryana, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the objective of soil health card (SHC) is to provide information about the Soil Health to 120 million farm holdings in the country.
The World Soil Day is celebrated on 5th December and the Soil Health Card scheme was launched in 2015.
The minister said SHC informs farmers about nutrients status of the soils along with the recommendation on appropriate dosage of nutrients to improve soil health and fertility. A farm will get the soil card once in every 2 years so that nutrients deficiency can be regularly detected and improved.
Singh underlined the fact that the imbalanced use of fertilizers damages the fields and reduces production.
He revealed that in the first phase (2015-17) 100 million SHCs have been distributed so far. The aim of the Ministry is to provide SHC to all 120 million farm holdings by December, 2017. The second phase began in 2017, and will continue for the period 2017 to 2019.
Former Lok Sabha MP M Ramadass has urged the Puducherry government to elect a board of directors and appoint
a production manager as the managing director for the government-owned cooperative sugar mill at Lingareddipalayam, reports Times of India.
Ramadass called upon the government not to privatise the sugar mill and insisted that the government accord autonomy to the board and pledge to desist from political interference in the mill’s functioning.
The government should enter into a tripartite agreement with sugar cane growers’ associations and workers’ unions to run the mill strictly on efficient lines, Ramadass said.
Former MP urged the government to earmark Rs 10 crore from market loans raised through the Reserve Bank of India to pay the current year’s dues to the sugarcane suppliers and offer benefits to workers seeking voluntary retirement.
