Fertilizers in India-The Hindu-03-11-2022

Fertilizers in India-The Hindu-03-11-2022
GS-3
AGRICULTURE
CONTEXT: Cabinet approves a subsidy of ₹51,875 crore for nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and sulphur for phosphatic and potassium fertilizers for rabi season; highest subsidy


About:
India consumed about 500 LMT of fertiliser per year in the last 10 years.

Since non-urea (MoP, DAP, complex) varieties cost higher, many farmers prefer to use more urea than actually needed.

The government has taken a number of measures to reduce urea consumption. It introduced neem-coated urea to reduce illegal diversion of urea for non-agricultural uses.

Between 2018-19 and 2020-21, India’s fertiliser imports increased almost 8% to 20.33 million tonnes from 18.84 million tonnes.

In FY21, more than a fourth of the urea requirement was imported.

Need of Large Quantities of Fertilisers:
The agricultural output of India has increased every year, and the country's need for fertilisers has also increased.

That is why

India is hoping to end its reliance on imported urea within the next four years, till 2025 by expanding the output of a locally developed version known as Liquid Nano Urea.

What is Liquid Nano Urea?
It is urea in the form of a nanoparticle. It is a nutrient (liquid) to provide nitrogen to plants as an alternative to conventional urea.

Urea is chemical nitrogen fertiliser, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.

It is developed to replace conventional urea and it can curtail the requirement of the same by at least 50%.

It contains 40,000 mg/L of nitrogen in a 500 ml bottle which is equivalent to the impact of nitrogen nutrients provided by one bag of conventional urea

The first Liquid Nano Urea (LNU) plant is inaugurated at Kalol, Gujarat.