Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said the Agriculture Department has initiated farm land soil health campaign and will distribute soil health cards to 48,651 farmers in the next two years in the district.
Chairing a meeting here on Wednesday, he said the campaign will be implemented in 13 hoblis, 203 gram panchayats and 331 villages.
Agriculture Department Joint Director Kempegowda said out of 4,770 square kilometre geographical area, 1,31,446 hectare (38 per cent) is farm land in the district.
As many as 2,09,097 farm land holders and 1,78,415 hectares of land will be covered, he added.
By next December, 24,326 soil health cards will be issued in the first phase. In the second phase, 24,325 cards will be issued, he said.
Soil test
Every day, 100 samples of soil will be tested and 2,400 samples will be tested in 24 days in a month. It will be better to test the soil when the land is left over after the completion of farming activities. The pH level of the soil, nutrients, NPK, zinc in soil and other things will be tested.
The programme is aimed at improving soil health and reducing input costs for farmers.The soil health card will contain crucial information on macro nutrients in the soil, secondary nutrients, micro nutrients, and physical parameters.
The card will be accompanied by an advisory on the corrective measures that a farmer should take to improve soil health and obtain a better yield, he added.
The Agriculture Department officials will visit the farm land with Android mobile phones and identify one grid of 2.5 hectare and click the photographs of the soil using GPS.
The soil health cards will be issued after the soil test. Awareness needs to be created among the farmers to get the benefit of the exercise, Ibrahim said.
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