The Gujarat government is planning to issue 42 lakh new soil health cards and set up 85 new labs at Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and sugar factories in various parts of the state for testing 14 lakh soil samples every year, as it gears to launch the month long 'Golden Krishi Mahotsav' from tomorrow.

Apart from health cards and laboratories, the state government is also targetting to achieve agricultural income of more than Rs 55,000 crores this year when it is celebrating its golden jubilee, Agriculture Minister Dilip Sanghani said.

Chief minister Narendra Modi will launch this Krishi Mahotsav from the agriculture university campus at Navsari tommorrow on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

The annual Krishi Mahotsav, held in the state since 2005 has proved very beneficial to farmers because of which the agricultural income has risen to Rs 48,000 crores from Rs 9,000 crores in the past five years, Sanghani said.

This 'Golden Krishi Mahotsav' is a part of the state's effort for a second green revolution through a series of path-breaking measures, he said.

The focus this year is on 'Innovative Convergence of Schemes for maximizing results', Sanghani said.

The convergence includes precision farming, farm mechanisation, sprinkler irrigation, tissue culture and organic fertilisers, introduction to the concept of green houses, nursery and vadi farming, he said. .