Inefficiency and Efficacy of Soil Testing Services: A Case Study of Gujrat

This paper seeks to answer the question why even after half a century of fertiliser use, farmers In India have not responded to soil testing service; the services that are essential for improving fertiliser use effeciency. The three Important findings of this study are as follows: First, over-use of fertilisers is widespread and Is guided by farmers' perceptions about yield response rather than soil test based recommendations. Second, farmers' yield perceptions are shaped in a chaotic environment that Is a product of inefficient farm' practices and fertiliser use techniques, constraints on yield response due to lack of complementary inputs and misconceptions and ignorance about balanced nutrient use. Thirdly, unless extension system is geared to face the challenge, the ineffeclent over-use Is unlikely to cease. These are not new findings. But their Implications are far reaching. They indicate that easy option for productivity growth have been exhausted. Productivity cannot be sustained only by applying more and more fertilisers; efficiency of Its use cannot be ignored.