The foundation stone for Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-Operative Ltd's (IFFCO) ₹350 crore nano urea (liquid) plant would be laid today.
"South India's first nano urea plant foundation will be laid in Bangalore on July 14 with an investment of around ₹350 crore," IFFCO said.
IFFCO said it has planned to set up another eight plants across the country with a capacity of 34 crore bottles (500 ml) per annum.
Nano Urea: Scientist Ramesh Raliya's multi-million dollar gift to farmers
The State government has allotted 12-acre Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) land near Devanahalli for the IFFCO's nano urea (liquid) project.
"We will complete this project within 15 months", according to an IFFCO statement.
Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai will lay the foundation stone for the nano urea liquid plant at Hi-Tech Defence and Aerotech Park, Naganayakanahalli in Devanahalli Taluk of Bangaluru Rural district.
Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya will be among those present at the function.
On commissioning, this nano urea plant will produce nearly five crore bottles per annum for the farmers of Karnataka and South India, which is equivalent to five crore bag (22.5 lakh MT) of conventional urea, IFFCO said.
IFFCO officials say a 500 ml bottle of nano urea (liquid) can effectively replace a 45 kg bag of urea. It has been priced ten per cent lower than the conventional one bag of urea, fulfilling the national spirit of `Atmanirbhar Krishi & Atmanirbhar Bharat.'
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had inaugurated the world's first nano urea plant in Gujarat, which has produced 4.5 crore bottles and marketed across the country, replacing 4.5 crore bags of conventional urea.
IFFCO said its nano urea (liquid) has the potential to cut down the use of conventional urea, the most used Nitrogenous fertiliser, by 50 per cent or more.
Nano urea improves crop productivity, soil health, and nutritional quality of produce and aims to address the imbalanced and excessive use of conventional urea fertiliser and lets farmers achieve twin benefit of higher crop yields at lower costs and better environment, it said.
Application of nano fertiliser is foliar in nature and spray of nano particles on the leaves result in high yield. Hence, soil does not get contaminated, reducing toxicity in soil and thus, soil imbalance. Also, the release rate and pattern of nano fertiliser are precisely controlled.
Nano urea (liquid) is cheaper compared to urea, and it reduces subsidy burden on the government considerably, IFFCO said.