Centre tells fertiliser companies, states to promote Nano urea use

The Centre has directed heads of all major fertiliser companies along with state governments to actively promote the use of Nano urea among farmers.

It has also said that its earlier directive, which prohibited tagging of one product with another by fertiliser companies, would not be applicable for promotion of Nano urea.

And, farmers should be encouraged to use Nano urea along with conventional urea. Urea is a major crop nutrient used during the rabi sowing season.

Sources said that the government — in a directive issued a few days back — said as Nano urea has emerged as a powerful alternative to conventional urea, the increased use of Nano may result in economic savings to farmers. It would also increase crop productivity and reduce India’s dependence on urea imports.

It may also lower the subsidy burden of the Centre, the directive said.

According to government reports, the commercial production of Nano urea started on August 1, 2021 by IFFCO and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF).

Thereafter, a plan has been drawn to scale up Nano urea production in eight plants of IFFCO and RCF in various phases starting from August 2021. This together will produce around 440 million bottles of 500 ml Nano urea. It will be equivalent to around 20 million tonnes of urea.

Since the launch of Nano urea, the government has dispatched around 39 million bottles to be sold through various outlets of IFFCO and RCF. Of this, around 28.7 million bottles have been sold. This is equivalent to around 1.3 million tonnes of conventional urea.

According to a ministry official, the government will save foreign exchange of about Rs 40,000 crore per annum due to a reduction in imports. One bottle of Nano urea is equivalent to one bag of urea.

At present, the capacity of Nano urea is 50 million bottles per year.

IFFCO has introduced innovative Nano urea in the market. Commercial production had started on August 1, 2021, from its Kalol unit in Gujarat.

Seven more Nano urea plants are being set up by IFFCO as well as two state-owned firms RCF and NFL. IFFCO has transferred Nano urea technology to these two public sector undertakings free of cost.

It is estimated that an average Rs 4,000 per acre increase is possible in farmer income by using Nano urea.

To assess the effectiveness of Nano urea, the Centre conducted field studies in 43 locations across 13 crops in 2019-20 under different agro-climatic zones.

The studies, according to government reports — conducted in association with ICAR and Krishi Vigyan Kendra — showed eight per cent increase in crop yields in foliar application of Nano urea.