The disquiet around Iffco’s magic fertilizer
₹225, the actual cost of a bag of urea, including government subsidies, is ₹3,000. Urea is the most popular crop nutrient—the most important source of nitrogen for crops which is required for photosynthesis and vegetative growth. With two sprays, farmers could drastically reduce the use of granular and heavily subsidized urea by almost half.
The fertilizer ministry estimates that a 25% replacement of regular urea with non-subsidized nano urea could save the exchequer up to ₹20,000 crore every year. A few numbers show why nano fertilizers are critical. The subsidy outgo for urea was a staggering ₹2.5 trillion in the previous two years, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Farmers pay less than ₹300 per 50kg bag of urea while it costs ₹3,000 to produce one. Of the 35 million tonnes (mt) of urea applied by farmers every year, imports account for about 8-9mt. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, Iffco produced 77 million bottles of nano urea and sold 54 million bottles to farmers.
The target is to raise annual production to 440 million bottles by 2025, which can cut use of regular urea by a staggering 20mt. This would result in self-sufficiency in urea production and no imports—a major feat, if achieved. The hope laid out by nano urea, however, has been marred by several discomforting developments.
Farmers have questioned the efficacy of the product and say they are forced to purchase it in a bundle—one bottle for every four or five bags of regular urea they need. Fertilizer cooperatives which supply subsidized nutrients to farmers say they have no option but to push sales as Iffco has made supply of regular urea conditional to sales of nano urea. Meanwhile, some soil scientists have termed the product dubious, calling for an extensive review before
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