Which central government scheme plans to issue soil health cards to farmers that carry crop wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers based on soil testing?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Soil Health Card Scheme

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question is about a flagship agricultural scheme related to soil testing and scientific use of fertilisers. Many central schemes focus on farmers, but each has a distinct goal such as insurance, rural clusters or organic farming. The Soil Health Card Scheme is specifically about giving each farmer a card that lists the status of the soil and recommended nutrient management practices.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • The scheme involves issuing soil cards to farmers.
  • These cards contain crop wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers.
  • The cards are based on soil testing results.
  • We must pick the scheme name that matches this description.


Concept / Approach:
The Soil Health Card Scheme was launched to promote balanced use of fertilisers by first testing the nutrient status of soil and then guiding farmers with scientific recommendations. This helps improve productivity while reducing unnecessary chemical use and input costs. The name of the scheme itself directly reflects the idea of a card that records soil health indicators like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the central keywords in the question, namely soil health cards, soil testing and nutrient recommendations. Step 2: Recall that the Government of India launched a dedicated Soil Health Card Scheme to give every farmer a card with soil test based advice. Step 3: Recognise that other listed schemes have different primary objectives, such as crop insurance or rural development. Step 4: Therefore, the scheme that best matches the description is the Soil Health Card Scheme.


Verification / Alternative check:
You can cross check by associating each scheme with one key phrase. For example, link Fasal Bima Yojana with crop insurance, Rurban Mission with rural urban clusters and Soil Health Card with nutrient based fertilizer recommendations. This type of one phrase mapping helps you avoid confusion when options contain several similar looking names.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

  • Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission: This mission aims to develop rural growth clusters that have urban like facilities, not to issue soil health cards.
  • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: This is a crop insurance scheme designed to protect farmers against yield losses due to natural calamities and other risks.
  • National Rurban Mission: This is essentially the full name of the Rurban Mission and again focuses on rural cluster development.
  • Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana: This scheme promotes organic farming through cluster based approaches, not soil health cards.


Common Pitfalls:
The main pitfall is to be overwhelmed by the large number of similarly named schemes and to rely on guesswork. Another issue is mixing soil related schemes with crop insurance or irrigation schemes because they all aim to boost agricultural productivity. Creating a table that lists scheme names, ministries and one line objectives is a reliable way to avoid such confusion.


Final Answer:
The scheme that issues soil cards with crop wise nutrient and fertiliser recommendations is the Soil Health Card Scheme.

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