Punjab is a frontline state for agriculture production and productivity. Soil health is most important for sustainable agriculture. Soil needs to be tested after two year gap to check its health and supplement with fertilisers as required. However, deviation from the ideal fertiliser requirement has direct impact on quality and quantity of produce and profit margins of farmers. The excess of fertiliser usage will increase input cost thus adversely affecting profitability, environment and consequently, health of living beings.

A variety of nitrogen based fertilisers are used in Punjab, like urea, DAP (di-ammonium phosphate), MOP (muriate of potash), and NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) blends. The state has the highest per acre consumption of fertilisers especially urea and DAP for crops like wheat and paddy. The average nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertiliser consumption in India during the year 2023-24 was 139.81 kg per hectare, whereas Punjab’s average fertiliser consumption was significantly higher at 247.61 kg per hectare. The factors responsible for this difference are intensive crop pattern, reliance on wheat paddy rotation, soil condition and past habit in fertiliser usage. Punjab soils are rich in potash. The ideal NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) ratio for Punjab is 4:2:1, however the actual usage ratio of NPK is significantly skewed, typically around 31:8:1. This imbalance leads to issues like soil health problems, reduced fertiliser efficiency, and potentially lower crop yields. Majority of Punjab farmers are advised to use urea as recommended by the agricultural universities. However, majority of farmers use double the amount of urea inviting trouble because more than recommended dose of urea increases weeds, attract insect pest attack depleting the available micronutrients. Facilitated by low price, excess use of urea may make plant prone to lodging and crop becoming succulent. While fertilisers, are essential for boosting crop yields, their excessive or improper use can reduce soil fertility, soil biodiversity, release greenhouse gases and can cause soil and water pollution having harmful effect on environment, human health, and soil quality. Some fertilisers contain heavy metals like cadmium and chromium. Cadmium poisoning, which comes from its excessive intake, can lead to kidney, bone and pulmonary damage (WHO, 1992).

Therefore, soil testing of agriculture lands after a gap of two years and balanced use of fertilisers is a vital and this practice must be adopted strictly by all farmers. Balanced use of NPK fertilizers based on soil test reports, farm yard manure, vermicompost, incorporating crop residues into soil, mulching, green manuring, crop rotation, use of biofertilizers, biopesticides etc as per recommended application rates are the tools by which soil health should be maintained and crop yields can be increased.

There are fifty seven soil testing laboratories in Punjab. Out of these, four are ICP laboratories that are capable of analysing sixteen minor elements in soil. In addition, there are twelve atomic absorption spectrometers in Punjab. Rest of laboratories mainly concentrate on analysing NPK by titration method which is time consuming. However, the total soil spectrometers can offer a faster, more cost-effective, and eco-friendly alternative to traditional wet chemistry methods for soil analysis, potentially improving accuracy, especially when combined with advanced techniques like chemometrics and machine learning. While spectrometers may not always replace traditional lab analysis, they can be a valuable tool for rapid and efficient soil testing, particularly for large-scale or remote areas. The total soil sample testing target in Punjab this year is approximately 2.5 lakh samples. There is a dire need to increase soil testing capacity of Punjab with the help of total soil spectrometer to ensure analysis of all 16 elements of soil, if farmers are to be convinced to stop using chemical fertilizer indiscriminately.

Increasing soil testing facility is less challenging as compared to convincing farmers to use fertiliser as per requirement based on results of soil testing. It has been observed by agriculture experts that despite knowing soil health, farmers still use higher quantities of fertiliser as per past practice. Resistance to change based on past practice or relying on the advice of peer group is hard to tackle. During winter months when sun cannot be seen for days due to foggy weather, wheat leaves turn yellow. Use of urea helps in giving instant result by making green leaves grow. Agriculture department officials need to concentrate their extension activities on breaking past habits. At present there are demonstration farms in seven districts. All the blocks in Punjab should have at least one demonstration farm where farmers can themselves see the efficacy of using fertilizer as per soil quality result. Through these demonstration farms, farmers’ acceptance of the use of need based chemical fertilisers or alternatively bio-fertilizers can be improved by using experimental fields. These farms can be used to conduct field comparisons between traditional and other biomass fertilisers and noting the difference in production between the two methods. The farmers can learn to use fertilisers efficiently thus ensuring sustainable agriculture. Policy changes in fertiliser subsidy can be of some help. In place of indirect subsidy on fertiliser, direct subsidy in bank accounts of farmers can be thought of which can be linked to farm size, agricultural university recommendation of fertiliser requirement in the block and additional requirement of fertiliser to soil health. The fertiliser quota of agriculture cooperative societies may be capped on the basis of total land holding of all the members of the society. This will help in checking hoarding of fertiliser as well as indiscriminate use of fertilisers.

( The author is an IAS officer of the Punjab cadre and ex-special secretary Agriculture, Punjab )