SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME EAST DISTRICT GOVERNMENT OF

SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME EAST DISTRICT GOVERNMENT OF SIKKIM FOOD SECURITY & AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENTDEPARTMENT KRISHI BHAWAN, TADONG Presented by: Prabhakar Verma, IAS, District Collector, East.

Objectives • Complete the Soil Health Card Scheme of two years in one year by March 2016 covering the target of 2439 composite samples in the District having 13853 farmers. • Issue soil health cards every two years to provide basis for addressing nutrient deficiencies • Strengthen functioning of Soil Testing Labs(STLs) • Diagnose soil fertility related issues for uniform sampling across the east district • Develop and promote crop based nutrient management • Build capacities of departmental staff and progressive farmers

Expected outcome • Distribution of Soil Health Cards to all farmers every two years • Promote balanced and judicious use of plant nutrients • Increased productivity of selected crops • Increased demand for organic sources of plant fertilizers (Biofertilizers, Vermicompost, organic manure etc. ) • Improved soil health

Norms for sample collection • In irrigated areas sampling to be done from 2. 5 Ha grids - in Rainfed areas sampling to be done from 10 Ha grid • Ideal time – between harvest of one crop and sowing of next crop • Sampling depth – 0 to 15 cm • GPS coordinates compulsory during sampling

Soil Analysis • Standard procedures to be followed for various parameters viz. p. H, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC) available major nutrient N, P, K, secondary nutrient S and micro -nutrients • Analysis to be completed within 3 weeks of receipt of samples

Strategy EAST SIKKIM Phase I 40 GPUs Phase II 12 GPUs EAST 52 GPUs

Collection and Analysis Strategy Who Monitoring Sampling and surveying 3 -4 Field Staff in each GPU Joint Director/Deputy Director 10 Ha Composite Sampling, online data entry and analysis of major nutrients Soil Testing Lab, Gangtok STL in charge Analysis of Micro nutrients Outsourced to Sikkim University, STL Gangtok Additional Director (INM-HQ) Activity

Measures taken to pool resources for execution of project • Department used field functionaries from the east district. • GIS Consultant was hired to provide consultancy and GIS solution. • Part of online registration outsourced to complete work on time. • 110 GPS equipment purchased to Geo-tag the soil samples. • Computer hardware procured. • Chemicals and glassware procured

Strengthening of lab equipment to test micro nutrient • The extraction for micronutrient prepared in the Soil Lab East District for copper , zinc, manganese, iron, sulphur and boron • Necessary chemicals procured to test soil sample • Sikkim University partnered for Micronutrient testing

Steps to deploy trained soil scientist/ fill up vacancies in the labs • Orientation cum GIS/GPS training conducted • The existing strength of staff trained to work in the laboratories for composite sampling and testing of major nutrients • The officers with experience of more then 3 years supervised the work. • Data operator trained in in Data Base Management System (DBMS)

ORIENTATION CUM TRAINING CONDUCTED

Soil sample collection photos on the field

Soil testing lab, Gangtok

Measures taken to complete sample analysis in time • Standard questionnaire developed for farmers details collection • Field functionaries catalyze to work overtime on the field • The office time reschedule from 9 am to 5 pm • Online registration of the farmers outsourced • State population distribution analyzed and

• For group blocks one officer ADO level deployed to support logistics • Plastic pouch, tag, rubbberband permanent marker provided to collect and label the sample. • Unique Id generated to label sample • Panchyats taken onboard for smooth implementation of scheme

Involvement of farmers by informing schedule of sampling collection • The orientation cum training conducted for field functionaries. • Field functionaries carried out awareness in the villages • FM, All India Radio , local news and local cable network used to disseminate the importance of scheme and collection schedule for soil samples. • Hat Bazar, Official function, Sports event, Honorable Chief Minister public address, Area MLAs public address and Gram Sabhas occasion were used to spread awareness.

Programme on soil health management and celebration of world soil day • World Soil Day was celebrated at Pakyong, Sub Division, East Sikkim on 5 th December 2015. • 500 farmers attended the function from the East District. • The program was attended by honorable Speaker, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Housing and Building, Parliamentary Secretaries, MLAs, Zilla members and Panchayats • During the celebration the farmers were explained the importance of soil health management.

Soil heath day celebration th 5 December 2015

Distribution of soil heath card by Honorable Prime Minister at Gangtok during Sikkim Organic festival January 2016

Innovative measures taken GIS and GPS technology was extensively used for the implementation of the scheme. Following methodology was used to collect soil samples from the field. • The Survey of India (So. I) Toposheet used to generate the grid map. • 10 hectare Grids map was generated using GIS Software • GPU maps generated to work on the field. • Soil sample collected from each household farm as per the norms.

• Farmers’ details collected simultaneously from the field using questionnaire. • GPS coordinates of the sample then superimposed on the 10 ha grids. • Composite sample made mixing the soil sample falling within 10 ha grids. • Composite sample then labeled with unique ID and tested in the lab for the report. • Whats. App forum was created for monitoring and discussing the logistics issues of scheme daily

Sikkim developed organic fertilizer recommendation in association with NCOF, Ghaziabad, UP. Soil Heath Card report

GRID MAP 10 Ha Grid Unique ID

COMPOSITE SOIL SAMPLING PROCESS (GIS LAB) 10 Ha Grid Soil samples Composite Soil Sample for testing

Soil Sample points Super imposed on 10 ha grid map Soil sample points

Soil sample points of east district super imposed on 10 ha grid Google earth

Soil sample GPS location on google earth GANGTOK

Software generated metadata Time: 6: 05 am Date: 15/09/2015 Elevation: 1040 m Avg. time 6: 30 am

Outcome of scheme • 2439 grids covered and 13853 farmers covered • Issued soil health card to farmers with 12 parameters based on which recommendations are given. • Farmers will provided the information on the nutrient status of their farms and adopt better input management. • Field functionaries exposed to technology like GIS, GPS and IT. • The experience will help further refining the logistics involve in soil sampling • Soil nutrient map of Sikkim will be generated using kriging interpolation technique.

Challenges and Issues • Lack of facilities for micro-nutrient analysis • Shortage of skilled manpower and lab facilities • Hilly topography affecting the sampling process • Connectivity issues • Fear of wild animals

Suggestions for improvement • Online registration Application(App) based mobile platform should be developed for real time registration. • Develop standard questionnaire for farmers details. • Due to the difficult topography in hilly areas, the budget allocation for the sampling process will have to be re-looked into. • Strengthening of infrastructure and logistics.

Thank you