New Delhi: In the wake of a higher subsidy on conventional fertilisers, the Union government is pushing for nano fertilisers (liquid) for agrarian states, especially Punjab, which has the highest per hectare consumption of ‘chemical fertilisers’ in the country.
Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals Mansukh Mandaviya said they had already introduced nano urea which was available for just Rs 220 per bottle.
The minister said nano urea was available at Krishi Samruddhi Kendra, a nodal point for all agriculture-related activities.
Addressing the farmers in an online interaction, Mandaviya said, “In the coming days, nano DAP will also be available for the farmers. All the bio safety approvals have already been taken to check any negative effect on the crop, yield and soil.”
Calling for a behavior change, the Union minister told the farmers that the central government was paying around Rs 2,000 on a urea bag, and the farmer had to pay Rs 266.
Similarly, cost of the DAP bag, after the covid outbreak and Ukraine war, had soared up to Rs 4,000. Wherein the government was paying Rs 2,750 as subsidy to the fertiliser companies, the ministry had to ask for an extra budget in the face of the increasing use of fertilisers by farmers, the minister said. “The ministry had allocated Rs 1.5 lakh crore for subsidy on fertilisers. I had to ask the PM for an extra budget who sanctioned an additional budget of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for subsidy – immediately,” he said.
The minister further added that farmers were using conventional urea for decades for no much gain. “Nothing has changed. The farmers, who have been using conventional urea and DAP decades ago, are still using the same fertilisers (didn’t use alternate). Now, (time has come) they should change themselves and start using nano fertilisers to save soil and the crops.”
The minister claimed that the availability of fertiliser, given its crucial role in farming, had been the top priority of the government and despite the global turmoil, the government had all along been ensuring availability of fertilisers at highly subsidised rates.