The primary aim of the Soil Health Card Scheme is:

Correct — C. A Soil Health Card reports the status of a farm's soil on 12 parameters: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sulphur, five micronutrients, and pH, electrical conductivity and organic carbon.

From that test it gives crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers. The scheme's aim is to assess nutrient status → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Improve seed quality — Seed quality is not something the card measures. The card reports on a soil sample, and its advice is about nutrients and fertiliser doses, not seeds.
• (b)
  Promote organic farming — Promoting organic farming is the aim of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). The Soil Health Card diagnoses nutrients and recommends fertiliser doses for each crop.
• (d)
  Prevent land acquisition — Land acquisition is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, not by a soil-testing scheme.

Fertiliser applied without a soil test can supply a nutrient the field already has and miss the one it lacks. The Soil Health Card Scheme, launched on 19 February 2015, addresses this by testing soil samples and issuing each farmer a card.

The card lists the nutrient levels found and the fertiliser doses advised for each crop. It is a diagnosis tool: it tells the farmer what the soil has and what it lacks.

Key facts

• The Soil Health Card Scheme was launched on 19 February 2015.
• The card reports 12 parameters: N, P and K, sulphur, five micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B), and pH, EC and organic carbon.
• The card gives crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers for the individual farm.

Common traps

• Choosing 'Promote organic farming' because both schemes concern soil: organic farming is PKVY's aim, while the Soil Health Card diagnoses nutrients.

No directly related past PYQ was found.