Seven states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar, are lagging behind in issuing soil health cards to farmers and have been asked to expedite the process, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday.

Against the target of 12 crore, nine crore soil health cards have been issued so far. Sixteen states have completed their target, while six are set to complete by the end of this month, he said at the Parliamentary Consultative Committee Meeting.

“However, the progress is slow in seven states, which include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur,” he said.

He urged the members to make efforts to achieve the target in their respective states as soon as possible.

Sharing about benefits of soil health card, the minister said it has helped reduce fertiliser consumption by 8-10 per cent and increase crop output by 10-12 per cent.

He further said that soil health card recommends ways to improve the soil quality, appropriate dosage of nutrients for improving soil health and its fertility and analyse the nutrient level.

Every two years the soil health will be reviewed to examine nutrients deficiencies so that corrective measures can be taken accordingly, he said in a statement.

Singh also said 12 soil health parameters such as primary nutrients (NPK), secondary nutrients (such as sulphur), and micro nutrients (boron, zinc, copper etc.) are being analysed. Secondary nutrients and micro nutrients analysis are compulsory under the scheme.

A GPS-based soil sample collection has been made mandatory to create a systematic database to monitor changes in soil and compare it with the previous year's.

The soil health card will be issued every two years under the scheme for which Rs 253.82 crore has been allocated during 2014-2017.

The minister also said that soil health card is part of its three-pronged approach to double farmers income by 2022.

The first approach is to reduce cost of production and increase productivity, the second is to diversify farming and adopt allied farm activities like animal husbandry and the third approach is to provide better market facilities, he added.