NEW DELHI: The government’s decision to reduce the size of urea bags to 45 kg in 2017 from the earlier norm of 50 kg has brought down the consumption of the fertilizer or nitrogen (N) by 8% per hectare, according to a recently-published study that has been presented to the fertilizer ministry.
“Different interventions have been made by the government to reduce usage of urea and the results are encouraging. The latest move to increase the usage of liquid ‘nano urea’ will further cut the usage of the chemical fertilizer. That’s good for the health of soil and also doesn’t impact production,” said a senior ministry while referring to the findings of the study.
The study was conducted by global consultancy firm, Microsave Consulting, to assess the impact of the decision on farmers and the usage of the chemical fertiliser and the findings are quite close to what the government had expected from this initiative. The fertilizer ministry had told the Parliament in January 2018 that the reduction in urea bag size would bring down consumption of the chemical soil nutrient by 10%.
In this study, 12,275 respondents were interviewed and over 85% of them were exclusively landowners. Most of them were small and marginal farmers who cultivated an average 1.34 hectares of land. “Change in the retail unit of urea (read 50 kg bag to 45 kg bag) reduced urea consumption per hectare by 8%, that is, 15 kg per hectare of urea and 7 kg per hectare of nitrogen… In the absence of this initiative, urea consumption would have increased by 19% from 2018-19 to 2020-21 instead of 11%,” the report said.
The study found that the majority of the farmers in all the states continued to use the same number of urea bags per hectare of land despite the change in the retail unit of urea bags. It also said, while the initiative would have reduced the consumption of urea by 20.5 lakh tonnes for 2018-19, the consumption of urea increased by 11% from 310 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 to 350 lakh tonnes in 2020-21.
This was primarily due to increase in gross cropped area in the country, particularly for paddy and wheat; consumption of electricity for agricultural purposes, which facilitated irrigation for farming, and improved availability of fertilizers.
“Different interventions have been made by the government to reduce usage of urea and the results are encouraging. The latest move to increase the usage of liquid ‘nano urea’ will further cut the usage of the chemical fertilizer. That’s good for the health of soil and also doesn’t impact production,” said a senior ministry while referring to the findings of the study.
The study was conducted by global consultancy firm, Microsave Consulting, to assess the impact of the decision on farmers and the usage of the chemical fertiliser and the findings are quite close to what the government had expected from this initiative. The fertilizer ministry had told the Parliament in January 2018 that the reduction in urea bag size would bring down consumption of the chemical soil nutrient by 10%.
In this study, 12,275 respondents were interviewed and over 85% of them were exclusively landowners. Most of them were small and marginal farmers who cultivated an average 1.34 hectares of land. “Change in the retail unit of urea (read 50 kg bag to 45 kg bag) reduced urea consumption per hectare by 8%, that is, 15 kg per hectare of urea and 7 kg per hectare of nitrogen… In the absence of this initiative, urea consumption would have increased by 19% from 2018-19 to 2020-21 instead of 11%,” the report said.
The study found that the majority of the farmers in all the states continued to use the same number of urea bags per hectare of land despite the change in the retail unit of urea bags. It also said, while the initiative would have reduced the consumption of urea by 20.5 lakh tonnes for 2018-19, the consumption of urea increased by 11% from 310 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 to 350 lakh tonnes in 2020-21.
This was primarily due to increase in gross cropped area in the country, particularly for paddy and wheat; consumption of electricity for agricultural purposes, which facilitated irrigation for farming, and improved availability of fertilizers.