New Delhi: It seems the practice of fixing a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for various crops by the government is not working in toto for the welfare of farmers as the increased cost of cultivation has forced many farmers to leave farming and look for better sources of earnings, which is, obviously, not a happy situation in a country like India where agriculture plays a pivotal role in the growth of the economy.
Aiming to protect the interests of farmers, the government is mulling to encourage rational use of nano urea, which is in liquid form, in the agriculture sector to address the issue of farmers' migration and help in reducing cultivation cost and doubling farmers' income.
The nano urea, which is developed by agriculture scientists at Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), is a cost-effective solution to keep farmers intact with the agriculture sector. As per the scientists, the new form of urea would prove to be a boon for the agriculture sector as farmers would get high yield at a reduced cost of fertilizers.
"Generally, it recommended to use two and a half bags of urea in one acre of wheat crop and for the same cultivable area, only a 500 ml bottle of nano liquid urea is recommended by the scientists. So, it will cost less to farmers in comparison to the conventional form of urea," an official said. "Being smaller in packing, the farmer's expenditure on its transportation and storage will also, be reduced leading to an increase in farmers' income," the official said, adding that the price of one bottle of nano liquid urea has been fixed at Rs 240.
The on-ground experience of nano urea (liquid) has proved that it increases the yield of crops in comparison to conventional fertilizers. According to Ramesh Raliya, who is general manager (R&D) at IFFCO, about 11,000 agricultural field trials were conducted on more than 94 crops across India to test the effectiveness of nano liquid urea and on an average 8 per cent increase in crop yield has been observed in these trials.
"One single particle of urea is equivalent to 55,000 small nano urea particles and on foliar application, these small particles are delivered directly to the plant cell, thereby releasing nitrogen inside cells. The environment-friendly process increases efficient use of nitrogen, he said, adding that about 78 per cent of nitrogen is available in the atmosphere, but it's unavailability in soils results in suboptimal or reduced yields.
"However, once the nano-nutrient reaches the plant cell, it stimulates and enhances various mechanisms such as plant photosynthesis resulting in better growth and development," he added.