Government today announced setting up of Indian Council for Fertiliser and Nutrient Research (ICFNR) to promote research in fertiliser manufacturing technology and develop innovative products to suit the country's requirements.
The research body is currently housed in state-owned National Fertiliser in Noida. Three fertiliser PSUs will provide initial funding to ICFNR on an annual basis and subsequently, the Centre will also give budgetary support.
"Fertiliser security is important for achieving food security of the country. To achieve fertiliser security, we need to do research regarding processes, product and technology. This is the basic purpose of ICFNR," Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters.
A dedicated research body focusing on fertiliser is important as at present there is hardly any research institute in this area, he said after the first meeting of ICFNR Governing Council here.
Stressing the need to promote research in India, Kumar said neem-coated urea the government has promoted in a big way was developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) but was not implemented until 2014.
"It was implemented on paper and that too one per cent. But between 2014 and 2015, we have implemented neem-coated urea 100 per cent to 320 lakh tonnes. Now, it has changed entire fertilisation. There is no scarcity of urea and consumption has also come down," he said.
Kumar said various combinations and multi-fortified fertilisers and crop nutrients are required and ICFNR will work towards this direction.
At the ICFNR Governing Council meeting, a decision has been taken that NFL will provide secretarial assistance, including staff, to the research body.
For the initial funding, seed money from three state-run fertiliser units -- NFL, RCF and FAGMIL -- will be provided on an annual basis.
The operational guidelines were also approved at the meeting.
India is the second-largest consumer of fertiliser in the world after China. Indian fertiliser requirement is largely dependent on imports -- around 25 per cent in the case of urea, more than 50 per cent for phosphatic and 100 per cent for potassic fertilisers.
The country also depends on foriegn players for sourcing of technology and its upgradation.
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