Chemical fertilizers in India are heavily subsidized and import-dependent. Their use, over the years, has led to significant deterioration in soil health. To promote soil testing, provide farmers with crop-specific nutrient recommendations, improve soil fertility and optimize fertilizer use, the government launched the Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme in 2015. During its first cycle (2015–17), around 25.4 million soil samples were tested, followed by 27.4 million soil samples in the 2017–19 cycle.