AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER Publishing Date || 01 JULY 2023

Rhodospirillum, cyanobacteria, etc. Examples of Nitrogen Fixation by Lightning

symbiotic nitrogen fixers are Rhizobium (in the
root nodules of legumes) and Frankia (in the Another process that helps in nitrogen fixation is
root nodules of non-leguminous plants), etc. lightning. It is a natural phenomenon where the
energy of lightning breaks and converts the non-
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation absorbable form of nitrogen into a usable form.
Even though the contribution of lightning in the
A species of bacteria called Rhizobium, help in nitrogen fixation is small, they save plants from
nitrogen fixation. These bacteria live in the roots the deficiency of essential elements.
of leguminous plants (e.g., pea and beans plants)
and using certain types of enzymes, they help in
fixing nitrogen in the soil. During this biological
process, they convert the non-absorbable
nitrogen form into a usable form. This form of
nitrogen gets dissolved in the soil, and plants
absorb the modified nitrogen from the soil. This
is the reason behind farmers implementing
crop rotation, where leguminous plants help to
replenish nitrogen content in the soil without the
necessity of fertilizers.

Natural Phenomenon -Lightning

Nitrogen oxides, e.g., NO, N2O and NO2 are
also produced in the atmosphere by industrial
processes, automobile exhausts, power stations
and forest fires.
Nitrogen-fixing organisms which can be free
as well as symbiotic are:
Plants cannot use atmospheric nitrogen. Some of
Legume Root Nodules the nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert atmospheric
Nitrogen fixation by bacteria is an example nitrogen into ammonia making it available to
of the symbiotic relationship between Rhizobium plants. Anabaena is a free-living nitrogen-fixing
and leguminous plants. While bacteria fix bacteria. These entities are also known to form
nitrogen in the soil, plants provide them food. a symbiotic relationship with the plants such as
mosquito fern. Existing as plankton, these are
known to form symbiotic associations with the
Azolla, aquatic fern. Consequently, these are
symbiotic bacteria too.

22492

4. Soil Health Card: A Tool to Soil

Management
RAGINI PATIL, GEETHA G P, DEEPA KALAPPANAVAR, AND ROOPA K
MUTTAPPANAVAR
SRF, REWARD Project, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, University
of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580005

The Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme was Suratgarh, Rajasthan. The scheme has been
introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, introduced to assist State Governments to
Government of India on 19th February 2015 at issue soil health cards to all farmers in the

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Publishing Date || 01 JULY 2023 AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER
country. Soil health card provides information  The farmers in India do not know which types
to farmers on nutrient status of their soil along of crops they should grow to get maximum
with recommendation on appropriate dosage of yield. Check out the detailed information on
nutrients to be applied for improving soil health High Yield Crops in India on the given link.
and its fertility. 2015 marked the International  Basically, they do not know the quality and
Year of Soils; that same year, the innovative the type of their soil. Read about Types of
initiative Soil in India on the linked page.
SHC is a printed report and contains the status  They might know by experience what crops
of farmer’s soil with respect to 12 parameters, grow and what crops fail. But are unaware
namely N, P, K (Primary macronutrients); S of what they can do to improve the condition
(Secondary macronutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, of the soil.
Bo (Micronutrients); and pH, EC, OC (Physical
parameters). Based on the status of soil, the Objectives of the Soil Health Card Scheme
SHC will also recommend fertilizer and soil
amendment requirement for the farm. SHC will  To strengthen functioning of Soil Testing
be issued to farmers every 3 years to enable Laboratories (STLs) through capacity
the farmers to apply recommended doses building, involvement of agriculture students
of nutrients based on soil test values to realize and effective linkage with Indian Council
improved and sustainable soil health and fertility, of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State
low costs and higher profits. Farmers can take a Agricultural Universities (SAUs)
printout of the SHC from the SHC portal, which  To diagnose soil fertility related constraints
has a database of all harvesting seasons and is with standardized procedures for sampling
available in 21 languages. uniformly across states and analysis
and design taluka / block level fertilizer
recommendations in targeted districts
 To develop and promote soil test based
nutrient management in the districts for
enhancing nutrient use efficiency
 To provide financial assistance to farmers to
apply corrective measures for deficiencies
and popularizing balance and integrated
nutrient management practices for their
cropping systems
 To build capacities of district and state level
staff and of progressive farmers for promotion
of nutrient management practices

Benefits of Soil Health Card Scheme

 This scheme provides a card that allows the
farmer to identify the soil type in his farm
area
 Farmers can increase the crop yield based
FIG. 1: Soil Health Card - Workflow on features of the scheme
 If farmers know the type of soil in their land,
Need of Soil Health Card Scheme it will be easier for them to plant crops based
on the quality of the soil, resulting in better
 Indian soils are working with negative farming and more earnings
nutrient balance to the tune of 12-14 million
tons per year and the negative balance is  The farmers will receive all information on
likely to increase in future even after using their farm’s soil via the Mudra Health Card
the full potential of the fertilizer industry.  This strategy aimed to increase farmers’
 The Nutrient deficiency in India is in the order revenue while also improving the soil’s base
of: 95, 94, 48, 25, 41, 20, 14, 8 and 6 % for N, P, and balance through applying fertilisers.
K, S, Zn, B, Fe, Mn and Cu respectively.  This strategy can also provide increased
 The limiting nutrients do not allow the full agricultural production at a cheaper cost
expression of other nutrients, lowering the  This card also informs farmers about how
fertilizer response and crop productivity. much nutrients are present in the soil and

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 AGROBIOS NEWSLETTER Publishing Date || 01 JULY 2023

for which crop, how much fertiliser should  Some important indicators such as cropping
be used, and which fertiliser should be used history, water resources or moisture of soil,
Farmers’ output will also grow due to the slope, depth, color and texture of soil etc. are
Soil Health Card Scheme not included
 Lack of Coordination among agricultural
Challenges with Soil Health Card Scheme extension officers and farmers
 Inadequate soil testing infrastructure  Number of soil samples per unit area is
 Microbial activity and moisture retention are between scheme officials not based on soil
essential but are missing in the Soil Health variability
Card  Language barriers between scheme officials
 Many farmers are unable to understand and farmers
the content, thus unable to follow the
recommended practices

22493

5. Importance of Soil Profile to Crop

Production
GEETHA, G. P., DEEPA KALAPPANAVAR., ROOPA K
MUTTAPPANAVAR., AND RAGINI PATIL
SRF, REWARD Project, Dept. of Soil Science and Agril. Chemistry, UAS, Dharwad

A vertical section of the soil through all its layers plant or animal matter cannot be recognized
and extending into the parent rock is known as through naked eye.
soil profile. A soil profile is divided into layers
called horizons. The main soil horizons are A,
B, C and D. A soil profile is a historic record of
all the soil forming processes and forms the
unit of study in pedological investigation. It also
helps in soil classification and forms the basis for
practical studies of soils. A study of the soil profile
is important from crop husbandry point of view,
since it reveals the surface and the subsurface
characteristics and qualities, namely depth,
texture, structure, drainage conditions and soil-
moisture relationships, which directly affect
plant growth. It helps to classify the soils and to
understand soil-moisture-plant relationships. O
horizon is called as organic horizon. It is formed
in the upper part of the mineral soil, dominated
by fresh or partly decomposed organic materials.
This horizon contains more than 30% organic
matter if mineral fraction has more than 50 % clay
(or) more than 20 % organic matter if mineral
fraction has less clay. The organic horizons are Most important for plant growth, the A and
commonly seen in forest areas and generally B horizons are the top two layers of the soil. The
absent in grassland, cultivated soils. A horizon is where there is most soil life and is
 O1 – Organic horizon in which the original sometimes called topsoil. Depending on the soil,
forms of the plant and animal residues can the A horizon can be further divided into A1, A2
be recognized through naked eye. or Ao (organic). The surface soil or that layer of
soil at the top which is liable to leaching and
 O2 – Organic horizon in which the original
from which some soil constituents have been

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