Use of liquid DAP, urea to make India self-reliant in fertiliser production, says Amit Shah

NEW DELHI — Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday exhorted farmers to maximise the use of liquid nano DAP and urea, saying extensive usage of these farm inputs will make India ‘Atmanirbhar’ in fertiliser production and reduce import dependence.

Launching the IFFCO’s nano (liquid) DAP fertiliser for commercial sale at Rs 600 per 500 ml bottle, less than half of the current price of conventional DAP (di-ammonium phosphate), the minister said the liquid farm inputs will help increase quality and quantity of agriculture production, and also help in conserving soil health.

One bag of conventional DAP (50 kg) costs Rs 1,350.

The benefits of using liquid fertilisers include soil conservation, higher crop yield, and easy transportation and storage, besides reducing import bills.

Shah said 60 per cent of India’s population is associated with agriculture and related activities and this “revolutionary development” will help the country become ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in the field of fertilisers.

The fertiliser imports bill was Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23.

He said the use of nano DAP can help farmers in reducing expenditure on crop production by 6 to 20 per cent.

The minister said IFFCO has got a patent for nano urea and nano DAP for 20 years, and the cooperative will get a royalty for the use of the products.

The government notified nano DAP (liquid) in March this year.

In a statement, IFFCO said it has set up manufacturing facilities for the production of nano DAP fertilisers at Kalol, Kandla in Gujarat and Paradeep in Orissa.

The production at Kalol Plant has already started and this year 5 crore bottles of nano DAP liquid equivalent to 25 lakh tonne of DAP will be produced.

It is estimated that the production of 18 crore bottles of nano DAP by IFFCO till 2025-26 will replace 90 lakh tonne of conventional DAP.

Nano DAP contains 8 per cent nitrogen and 16 per cent of phosphorus in a bottle, which can replace a 50 kg bag of traditional DAP.

IFFCO further said it has sold 5.44 crore bottles of nano urea since August 2021.

Its Chairman Dileep Sanghani said nano DAP has been made in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi and Atmanirbhar Bharat” with the aim to increase farmer’s income and provide them with a better future.

IFFCO’s MD US Awasthi said the “nano DAP has been found to be very effective in enhancing the nutritional quality and productivity of crop and has a huge positive impact on the environment thus resulting in significant reduction in global warming.

In 2021-22, India imported 91.36 lakh tonne of urea, 54.62 lakh tonne of DAP, 24.60 lakh tonne of MoP (muriate of potash) and 11.70 lakh tonne of NPK fertilisers.

Urea is provided to the farmers at a maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 242 per 45 kg bag. The difference between the production cost, and retail price is reimbursed to the manufacturers as a subsidy.

The Centre is implementing a Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) policy with effect from April 2010 for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers.

Under the policy, a fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis, is provided on subsidised P&K fertilizers depending on their nutrient content. The MRP of P&K fertilisers is fixed by fertiliser companies.

Also read: ‘Ruthless approach’ should be taken against drug traders, says Amit Shah