Loss of soil fertility is the main reason responsible for the low crop yields in India. The Indian soils have been cultivated over thousands of years without much replenishing. In order to restore soil fertility for boosting up agricultural output there is an imperative need to use artificial fertilisers and manures.
Indian farmers since time immemorial have been using animal dung, forest litter, compost, bones and other organic manures to replenish soil fertility. Practices such as green maturing, cultivation of legumes and leaving fallow were other methods to restore soil fertility.
It was during the 19th century that scientists could discover that nitrogen; phosphorus and potassium are the three key elements which play cant role in enriching soils by restoring the nutrients. Of these the nitrogen, the mastic; fertilizer, is generally converted into usablelizer in two ways : (a) creation of urea with a cent nitrogen content, and (b) conversion insomnia gas comprising of 82 per cent nitrogen, these processes involve the combination of nil and hydrogen. The cheapest method in the portion of nitrogen fertilizer uses natural gas or ileum products as the source of hydrogen. He increases in the price of fossil fuel leads to increase in the price of nitrogen fertiliser.
Although nitrogen is a ubiquitous subset the world’s proven reserves of phosphate and/or are not distributed uniformly. Two-thirds o world’s known phosphate rock reserves are in two countries-Morocco and the United States. Similarly potash reserves are concentrate three countries-Canada, former Soviet Union Germany. In India potash is found in the Punjab Bihar. That is why developing countries have to heavy price on the import of chemical fertiliser increase their agricultural production. They’ provide subsidies so that fertiliser prices are reach to the average farmers.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In India chemical fertilisers have played indicant role in the success of green revolution general the country’s soils are deficient in nitro and phosphorus. There has been remarkable prong in the production of chemical fertilisers during 50 years when the production rose from a n 39,000 tons in 1951-52 to 15.6 million ton 2005-06 leading to an increase of 400 times. Sid lady the production of nitrogenous fertilizers1 increased from 9000 tons in 1950-51 toll, million tons in 2005-06 (an increase of times); phosphatic fertilizers from 9,000 in 1950- to 4.12 million in 2005-06 (458 times). Pot’ fertilizers are totally imported from abroad. Even domestic production of phosphate fertilisers is base on imported rock phosphate or phosphoric acid considerable cost in foreign exchange.
There are at present 139 fertiliser factories the country amongst which 35 are in public seep 99 in private sector and 5 in co-operative sectors, Besides there are 33 chemical units (23 in public, in joint and 4 in co-operative sectors). About 53M the total production of nitrogenous fertilizers comes from four states of Gujarat (15.3%), Uttar Pradesh (14.6%), Tamil Nadu (13.7%), and Punjab 9.7%). Similarly about 68% of the total production of phosphatic fertilisers of the country is obtained from only two states-Tamil Nadu (37.4%) and Gujarat (30.6%).
Since the adoption of the new agricultural started in the sixties, the consumption of chemical fertilisers has been growing rapidly. The government is also encouraging the use of fertilisers through heavy subsidies. That is why the consumption has gone abnormally high from 70,000 tons in 1951- 52to2,177,000 tones in 1970-71,12,546,000 tones in 1990-91 and 19,145,000 tons in 1999-2000 (an increase of 274 times). The fertiliser consumption per hectare of gross cropped area has also gone up
steadily, from 0.50 kg. in 1950-51 to 13.61 kg in 1970-71, 31.70 kg in 1980-81, and 97 kg in 2004-05.
The corresponding figures for developed countries are much higher than the Indian average: South Korea (405 kg), Japan (380 kg), Netherlands (315 kg.), and Belgium (275 kg/ha). Even our neighbours like Bangladesh (99.3 kg.) and Pakistan (89 kg/ha in 1989-90), have per hectare higher consumption of fertilisers than us. Similarly the per capita consumption of fertilisers, although has shown significant improvement between 1960-61 (0.70 kg) and 1987- 88 (13.4 kg), is still abnormally low in comparison to developed countries (Netherland 740 kg).
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The low consumption may be due to the poor economic conditions of the farmers, lack of assured irrigation (58.5% of the cropped area lack irrigation facilities), inadequate demonstration and promotion for the use of fertilisers , insufficient supply at the proper time, high price of fertilisers, absence of soil testing facilities so as to recommend the precise deficiencies in the soil and recommend proper dose of fertilisers, and wrong notion among some conservative farmers regarding the use of chemical fertilisers.
In 1951 -52 India met 74 per cent of its fertiliser consumption through import. In 1980-81 the country imported 27.59 lakh tones of fertilisers (50% of the total consumption) from aboard. In 2004-05 the total production of chemical fertilisers was 154.05 lakh tones against the total consumption of 183.98 lakh tones.
Hence the country had to import 27.53 lakh tones of fertilisers (Table 8. XII) Which was about 18% of the country’s production of fertilisers and about 15% of its total consumption? The country has to fulfill its total need of potassic fertilisers through import which constitutes 74% of the total import of fertilisers. Since there is sharp increase in the price of fertilisers in the international market the government of India offers subsidies.
The subsidy amount had grown over the years from Rs. 600 crores in 1979-80 to Rs. 15,879 crores in 2004-2005. Since this is a great burden on the exchequer the government is thinking to reduce the amount of subsidy under the New Economic Policy.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The new strategy for fertiliser is oriented towards increasing the use of organic manure, both farmyard manure and urban and rural compost. On a rough estimate India has an annual yield of about 1020 million tones of cow dung who’s only one- third is presently used as manure while remaining two-third is either not collected or wasted as domestic fuel. By supplying alternative fuel whole of it may be utilised as manure.
This combined with cattle urine and blood from abattoirs may yield good and cheap manures. Besides, the increasing use of gobar gas plants will help in making organic manures available to the farmers. There is great scope for the manufacture of compost from urban waste, forest litter and human excreta to reduce the dependence on chemical fertilisers.
Various types of microbes of the soil which are known for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and transform it for use of the crop are, as a group, known as bacterial or biofertilizers. These are mostly derived from microbes and fungus. Some important bio-fertilisers include rizobium, azolla, azospirilum like forum, independent bacteria and micoriza.
The Government of India is implementing a Central sector scheme on “National Project and Technology Mission on Development and use of bio-fertilizers.” Under the scheme, a national centre has been established at Ghaziabad with its six regional centers at Hissar, Bangalore, Jabalpur, and Nagpur. Bhubaneswar and Imphal.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
With a view to give adequate thrust at bio-fertilizer production and promotion programme, the Government approved a modified project in the form of Technology Mission towards the end of the year 1995-96.
The grant of Rs. 20 lakh each for setting up a bio-fertilizer production unit with a capacity of 150 tons each per year is being given to state governments/ government undertakings. Consequently, during the Eighth Plan, 1389 tones of bio-fertilizers have been produced and marketed. A total of 30 new bio-fertilizer production units and 21 BGA centers have been financed under this scheme.