Q. Why is this in News?
A.
India is hoping to end its reliance on imported urea within the next four years, till 2025 by expanding output of a locally developed version known as Liquid Nano Urea.
Q. What is Liquid Nano Urea?
A.
- It is urea in the form of a nanoparticle. It is a nutrient (liquid) to provide nitrogen to plants as an alternative to the conventional urea.
- Urea is a 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 nutrient provided by one bag of conventional urea.
- It is Indigenous Urea, introduced firstly by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for farmers across the world.
- The first Liquid Nano Urea (LNU) plant is inaugurated at Kalol, Gujarat.
Q. What is the Need of becoming Self Sufficient in Urea?
A.
- India has been importing urea for decades to meet the shortfall in the supply chain. India, being one of the largest importers of urea, its demand affects the international price of urea.
- India is the world’s largest buyer of Urea and Di- Ammonium Phosphate (DAP).
- DAP is the second most commonly used fertilisers in India after urea.
- Farmers normally apply this fertiliser just before or at the beginning of sowing, as it is high in phosphorus (P) that stimulates root development.
- Urea and DAP have been hit by a sharp rise in global fertiliser prices this year 2022 due to supply disruptions.
- Agriculture being the mainstay of nearly 70 % of our population, any shortfall in supply or increase in the price of critical input like fertilisers is bound to have an adverse impact on the overall economic performance of our rural sector.
- It is likely that the demand for urea is not going to come down in the foreseeable future, so remaining dependent on the import of urea perpetually was a very bad idea from the onset.
- In this regard, the decision to set up several brownfield urea plants in the public sector in 2016 was a very good step.
- Self-sufficiency in urea will save the government nearly Rs 40,000 crore.
Q. What is the Status of Fertilizers in India?
A.
- About:
- India consumed about 500 LMT of fertilizer per year in the last 10 years.
- The Centre's fertiliser subsidy bill is set to soar by 62% over the budgeted amount to Rs 1.3 lakh crore in FY21.
- 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. It also stepped up the promotion of organic and zero-budget farming.
- 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.
- Despite imports, gaps remain between requirements and availability after indigenous production targets haven't been met.
