Union Minister for Health, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya urged the State Agriculture Ministers to promote the use indigenously developed nano urea, a move that would help reduce the nutrient imports.
Addressing the inaugural of National Conference of State Agriculture and Horticulture Minister, Mandaviya said nine manufacturing units of nano urea will come up by 2025 that will help replace two lakh tonnes of urea. Each bottle of nano urea, which costs ₹240, is equivalent to one bag of urea. Farmers are being given urea bags at a highly subsidised price of ₹266, which actually costs the government ₹2,300.
Use of nano urea, which has been developed and manufactured locally would help cut down on imports and achieve self-reliance. India, the largest importer of urea, accounts for about 35 per cent of the global consumption, he said.
One Nation, One Fertiliser
“We want to achieve One Nation, One Fertiliser in the coming days under the Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Yojana, which will be launched soon,” Mandaviya said, while appealing to the States to check diversion of the subsidised fertilisers. He also asked the States to set up their own dashboards as the Centre has done under the Integrated Fertiliser Supply Management System (IFSMS) at the local level to monitor the supply and sales of fertilisers.
Fertiliser Secretary, Arti Ahuja said there was no shortage of fertilisers in the country. Due to the prevailing geopolitical situation and as many of the raw materials come from other countries, there have been delays in cargoes and reneging of existing contracts. However, the situation is being monitored on a daily basis andthe farmers have not faced any shortage of fertilisers, she said.