Three years after the launch of nano urea and subsequently nano-DAP (diammonium phosphate), its adoption among farmers has been low.
According to industry sources, the large-scale adoption of nano variants of urea and DAP, may take at least three more years. The government has been according priority to nano fertilisers with a view to cutting extensive use of highly subsidised conventional fertilisers.
“We are currently operating much below our installed capacity (as far as nano urea is concerned,” U S Awasthi, MD, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) said. He added that to reach around 80% of capacity utilisaiton in nano segment, it would take another three years.
At present, of the IFFCO’s total current manufacturing capacity of 170 million bottles of nano-urea and 60 million bottles of nano-DAP annually, only 15% capacity is utilised.
“Farmers would start using nano-fertilisers if they see an increase in efficiency in its usage which is currently yet to be established,” an industry expert told FE while adding that current application of nano soil nutrient after the planting or foliar spray poses a challenge.
Last year, a parliamentary panel said that precise application of nano-urea at critical crop growth stages can replace 25-50% of usage of conventional application of soil nutrient thus resulting in savings on fertiliser subsidy. “With the use of nano urea, the exchequer can save $ 3 billion equivalent to around Rs 25,000 crore in subsidy bill per year considering subsidy of approximately Rs. 20,000 per metric tonne of urea,” it said in a report.
Awasthi said the IFFCO, which has patents for nano-urea and nano-DAP, is currently spending around Rs 300 crore annually to promote their use which excludes the cost of the production of such soil nutrients. Since commencement of research on nano-fertiliser in 2017, IFFCO has spent around Rs 2000 crore in an effort to increase its acceptability amongst the farmers.
Nano urea is available at around Rs 240/bottle of 500 ml while nano liquid DAP at Rs 600/bottle.
In June 2021, cooperative IFFCO launched nano urea in liquid form as an alternative to conventional urea. In April last year, the fertiliser cooperative major had launched nano-DAP, which aimed at decreasing the country’s import dependence on soil nutrient variety.
“We are doing everything possible to promote usage of nano soil nutrient in addition some state governments are supporting the efforts while the government machinery has to come into this effort so that farmers’ adaptability increases,” Awasthi said.
The government had earlier aimed to increase the current annual production capacity of nano urea to 440 million bottles (550 ml each) which potentially is equivalent to 20 million tonne (MT) of conventional urea by 2025 thus would stop import of soil nutrient variety.
Soil nutrient in liquid form provides nitrogen to plants as an alternative to conventional urea. A 500 ml bottle of nano urea is equivalent to a 45 kg bag of conventional urea.
The fertiliser subsidy for 2024-25 is projected at Rs 1.64 trillion – Rs 1.19 trillion (urea) and Rs 0.45 trillion (nutrient based subsidy). Revised estimate for fertiliser subsidy is Rs 1.88 trillion in FY24. In terms of volume, imports account for a third of domestic soil nutrients consumption of around 60 MT annually.
In case of urea, farmers pay a fixed price Rs 242 per bag (45 kg) against the cost of production of around Rs 2,650 per bag. The balance is provided by the government as a subsidy to fertiliser units.
The retail prices of phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertiliser, including DAP were ‘decontrolled’ in 2020 with the introduction of a ‘fixed-subsidy’ regime as part of Nutrient Based Subsidy mechanism announced by the government twice in a year.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
