< Previous | Contents | Next >
In improving agricultural output, fertiliser is a critical and expensive input. Since the Green Revolution (mid-1960s), there has been a sharp increase in the use of fertilizers in India. To facilitate and promote the use of fertilizers, the Government has been providing fertilizer subsidy to farmers. Today, the fertiliser subsidies stand at around 10 per cent of the total agricultural GDP.44
However, the use of fertilisers has not resulted in commensurate growth in agricultural productivity. The declining response ratio or marginal productivity of fertilisers since the 1970s is a pointer to their inefficient use in Indian agriculture. The yield of grain per kilogram use of NPK fertilizer has declined from 13.4 kg grain per ha in 1970 to 3.7 kg grain per ha in irrigated areas by 2005.
In the post Green Revolution agriculture scenario, there have been
imbalances in the use of fertilizers such as –
(i) Excessive dependence on urea owing to low/distorted prices of fertilisers, especially urea and regional imbalance in the use,
(ii) Neglect/low use of compost, manure and other forms of natural nutrient providers,
(iii) Discontinuing practices of inter and rotational cropping.
(iv) Diversion of the subsidised fertilisers to non-agricultural use.
(v) Indiscriminate use of fertilisers has not proportionally improved the yield of crops, but has resulted in the depletion of soil fertility and salination of soil in many areas.
There is need to rationalise fertiliser subsidy in an input, crop and region neutral format and minimise diversions. The disbursal of subsidy on fertilisers should shift to DBT (the GoI has already started the process as announced in the Union Budget 2016–17 ), the benefits of which will be maximised, if all controls (including imports) on the fertiliser industry/outputs are lifted, simultaneously. In the case of P (phosphate) and K (potash) fertilizer subsidy, with the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme, a fixed amount of subsidy will be given on each grade based on their content. Certain improvements in fertilisation needed in the Indian farm sector may be summed up as follows:
(i) Crop-responsive & balanced use of fertilisers: There is need to facilitate the optimal use of fertilisers depending on the soil health and fertility status. Linking the soil health card to provide profile of the soil and fertilizer on the basis of the same profile utilizing fertilizer, (even if not subsidised) can improve the yield of crops.
(ii) Micro nutrients & organic fertilisers: Indian soils show deficiency of micro nutrients (like boron, zinc, copper and iron) in most parts of the country which limiting crop yields and productivity. Fertilisers which supplement micro nutrients can provide an additional yield in cereals in the range of 0.3 to 0.6 ton per hectare.45 This deficiency can be overcome if there by expansion in the use of organic fertiliser. Besides, being cheaper to use organic composting and manure it can help improve and retain soil fertility, too., There is great scope for enhancing the use of organic fertilisers as around 67 per cent of Indian soil is characterised by low organic carbon.
(iii) Nutrient Management: To maintain soil health and productivity, judicious use of chemical fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and locally available organic manures like farmyard manure, compost, vermi-compost and green manure based on soil testing is necessary.
With over 12 crore farm holdings in India, it is a big challenge to
provide soil-testing facilities for overcoming the multi-nutrient deficiencies in soils so as to improve agricultural output. Use of information technology and providing soil fertility maps to farmers can go a long way in efficient nutrient management.
(iv) Regional disparity in fertilizer consumption: India has wide regional disparities in the consumption of fertilizers. This may be attributed to the availability of irrigation facilities in the high consuming states (since irrigation is a requirement for proper absorption of fertilizers). It is necessary to reduce the disparities through appropriate soil-testing facilities and other policy measures.