A group of ministers’ decision to include urea in the nutrient-based subsidy regime has raised hopes that farmers will now use a better mix of nutrients.
The present subsidy regime is skewed heavily in favour of urea, leading to its injudicious and unabated use. In the Green Revolution belt of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, the overuse of urea has deprived the soil of essential nutrients.
Urea is India’s cheapest and most commonly used fertiliser, and accounts for 55-60 per cent of the total fertiliser consumption. While urea is available at Rs 5,310 per tonne, other complex and straight fertilisers cost almost double.
The fertiliser industry has long been pressing the government for decontrolling urea, saying it would help in attracting new investors to the sector.
India’s urea output is around 21 million tonnes, while the demand is 26 million tonnes. The gap is met through imports.
Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, said decontrolling urea would certainly help in improving the imbalance in fertilisers’ use.
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“As soon as urea is decontrolled, its prices will rise and bring it at par with phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), which have been decontrolled earlier. It will encourage farmers to use less of urea and increase dosage of P and K,” he said, adding nevertheless a bigger challenge would be to ensure that the fertiliser subsidy, at present given to plants, is transferred directly to farmers.
“Urea only gives more greenery to crops, but actual grain formation is less, which is done by P and K. Hence, I believe decontrolling urea, which would lead to its judicious use, should be good for agriculture,” Gulati said.