These cards are the future

After Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and sundry other states introduced soil health cards for farmers, Gujarat is gearing up to take...

After Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and sundry other states introduced soil health cards for farmers, Gujarat is gearing up to take the database to the next level. Once in place, the initiative is expected to double incomes for 35 lakh farmers.

‘‘The ICT infrastructure will act as an archiving and warehousing resource from where farmers will be able to mine well-researched information for optimising their produce,’’ says M C Varshneya, vice-chancellor of Anand Agricultural University, which is digitising the database of soil types.

Already, 2 lakh farmers in the state possess soil health cards, processed after collecting soil samples from each of the 18,000-odd villages by the Gujarat agriculture department. The samples were then analysed for parameters like NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) status, soil fertility, moisture index and pH balance at state laboratories.

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‘‘We collected 2.05 lakh samples at an average of 10 per village. This year, we are procuring at least 20 samples per village with the idea of making as broadbased as possible,’’ says Gujarat Director of Agriculture R A Sherasia.

While the cards on their own will help farmers in determining the condition of their land, it is the next stage that is really exciting the agricultural community.

Software now under development—CES Limited, the Ahmedabad-based software company that bagged the contract last week is supposed to complete work within a year—will link the data with weather patterns derived from the last 30 years, as also price movements (over five years) and market demand patterns (for the last couple of years).

‘‘The government is trying to provide the rest of the 35 lakh farmers with soil cards as soon as possible. Once the cards are in place, farmers will be free to approach our researchers through taluka headquarters and get specific information on alternative cropping patterns and fertiliser-use,’’ says Varshneya.

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The software will be such that if a farmer feeds in the survey number of his land, it will produce the optimal cropping pattern for that specific plot, keeping in mind weather patterns and crop prices.

The total project, which envisages an investment of Rs 20 crore for the decision-support system and its network, will have an expert group comprising agri-scientists, soil chemists, agronomists and meteorologists monitoring its development.

‘‘It might be some months before the project becomes visible,’’ warns project coordinator and director (IT) at AAU, J G Sarvaiya.

But there is little doubt that when it does, it will help farmers optimise their production—and their returns.