Fertilizers play a huge role in maintaining the fertility of the fields to increase production. India heavily depends on imports for its fertilizer requirements. The current cost of fertilizers in India is too high for a mineral resource-poor country to bear. In 2021-22, in value terms, imports of all fertilizers touched an all-time high of $12.77 billion. The total value of fertilizer imports by India, including inputs used in domestic production, stood at a whopping $24.3 billion in 2021-22.
Due to the high cost of fertilizers, not only are fertilizers imported, but Indian farmers also pay less than the cost of importing or manufacturing them using imported inputs. The difference is paid by the government as a subsidy. The expensive raw material is also largely responsible for this; Rock phosphate is the major raw material for DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) and NPK fertilizers and India is 90 percent dependent on imports for them.
Due to the paucity of natural resources, the primary feedstock in the case of urea is natural gas which is not sufficient in the country. According to petroleum ministry data, the share of the fertilizer sector in the consumption of re-gasified LNG was over 41 percent. The increase in the price of oil in the international market also adversely affects the fertilizer cost. To limit or reduce the consumption of high-analysis fertilizers especially Urea, DAP, and MOP (Murate of Potash) to reduce the burden of fertilizers on the Indian economy. For this, urea and nitrification inhibitor compounds should be included in the area.
This makes more nitrogen available to the crop, enabling farmers to harvest with fewer urea bags. Promote the use of liquid “nano urea”: their ultra-small particle size is conducive to easier absorption by plants than bulk fertilizers, which translates into higher nitrogen use efficiency. The use of DAP should be mainly limited to paddy and wheat; Other crops do not require fertilizers with high P content.
It is also beneficial to popularize high nutrient use-efficient water-soluble fertilizers (potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, calcium nitrate, etc.) and encourage alternative indigenous sources like potash derived from seaweed extracts, etc. Promoting the sale of single super phosphate (SSP) (containing 16 percent P and 11 percent S) and complex fertilizers such as “20:20:0:13” and “10:26:26” is also effective.
India should focus on improving fertilizer efficiency through need-based use and increasing investment in new fertilizer plants. The need of the hour is that agriculture departments and universities not only revisit their existing crop-wise nutrient application recommendations but also take this information to farmers on a campaign mode.
There is a need to limit or reduce the consumption of high-analysis fertilizers – especially urea (46 percent N content), DAP (18 percent N and 46 percent P), and MOP (60 percent). One way to do this is to incorporate urea and nitrification inhibitor compounds into the area. These are chemicals that slow the rate at which urea is hydrolyzed (resulting in the production of ammonia gas and its release into the atmosphere) and nitrified (the loss of nitrogen below ground through leaching). it occurs).
The use of DAP should be mainly limited to paddy and wheat; Other crops do not require fertilizers with high P content. India needs to wean its farmers away from all high-analysis fertilizers: for that movement to popularize high nutrient use-efficient water-soluble fertilizers (potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, calcium nitrate, etc.) and alternative indigenous A concerted push is needed to tap the sources as well. For example, potash is derived from molasses-based distillate Spent-wash and seaweed extract).
Any scheme to limit/reduce the consumption of high-analysis fertilizers cannot be successful without the farmers knowing what is a suitable alternative to DAP and which NPK complex or organic fertilizers can reduce their urea application. It calls on agriculture departments and universities to not only rethink their existing crop-wise nutrient application recommendations but to disseminate this information to farmers in a campaign mode.
-Priyanka ‘Saurabh’
freelance journalist, and columnist
