Fertilisers and Modern Agri-Inputs: Nano Urea, Fertigation (UPSC)

India’s fertiliser subsidy crossed Rs 1.9 lakh crore in FY24 and remains one of the biggest items in the Union Budget. Chemical fertilisers lifted yields in the Green Revolution but now cause imbalanced NPK application, soil degradation, water pollution, and fiscal strain. To fix these distortions, India is pushing a new generation of fertiliser innovations — Nano Urea and Nano DAP, One Nation One Fertiliser (“Bharat” brand), fertigation, neem-coated urea, PM-PRANAM, and natural farming. For UPSC, the fertiliser story is a core GS-III topic covering subsidies, agri-technology, environment, and fiscal policy.

Fertiliser Use in India: Scale and Distortion

Imbalanced NPK — triggered by the urea price subsidy, which keeps urea artificially cheap while P and K fertilisers are costlier — damages soil, waterbodies, and long-run productivity.

Nano Fertilisers: The Game-Changer

Nano fertilisers are nutrients encapsulated or coated within nanomaterial to enable controlled release and slow diffusion into the soil and plants. The IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative), launched the world's first Nano Urea (liquid) in 2021, followed by Nano DAP (liquid) in 2023, both approved by the Fertiliser Control Order.

Benefits of Nano Fertilisers

• Lower cost — a 500 ml bottle of Nano Urea can replace a 45 kg bag of conventional urea, saving input cost.
• Logistics advantage — easy to transport, store, and handle.
• Fiscal savings — potential Rs 22,000 crore subsidy saving annually.
• Higher yield — around 8% increase translating to Rs 2,000-5,000/ha additional farmer income (ICAR).
• Environmental benefits — less soil and water pollution; less nitrous oxide emissions.
• Doubling farmers' income lever — reduced input cost + higher productivity.

Challenges

• Adoption resistance — farmers accustomed to handling granular urea distrust spray-on liquids.
• Training and awareness — application via spray requires specific equipment.
• Quality control — risk of counterfeit nano products.
• R&D gaps for Nano P and Nano K.

Way Forward

• Include nano-fertiliser production under PLI Scheme.
• Awareness camps, field demonstrations, regional-language films.
• Quality testing labs and certification.
• Joint ventures abroad in P and K-rich countries for nano-technology-based fertilisers.
• Basic customs duty relief on P and K raw materials to incentivise domestic nano-fertiliser plants.
• Dedicated fund for nanotechnology-based agricultural research.

One Nation One Fertiliser (ONOF) Scheme

Launched in August 2022 under Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana (PMBJP), the ONOF scheme requires all subsidised fertilisers to be sold under a single brand "Bharat" — Bharat Urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat NPK, Bharat MOP. Companies can use only one-third of the bag for their own branding; the remaining two-thirds carries the "Bharat" logo.

Rationale

• Credit to government — government foots the subsidy bill; branding gives it due credit.
• Reduced logistics cost — swapping between companies' products becomes seamless.
• Transparent pricing — farmers focus on the product, not the brand.

Criticisms

• Quality risk — less incentive for companies to maintain unique quality and experiment with customised products.
• Discourages private R&D — uniform branding erodes brand equity and marketing incentive.
• Consumer choice — farmers lose the ability to choose differentiated products.

Fertigation: Precision Nutrient Delivery

Fertigation is the technique of applying water-soluble solids or liquid fertilisers through drip irrigation, reaching every plant regularly and uniformly.

Benefits

• Higher nutrient use efficiency — precise dosing avoids waste.
• Less water pollution — reduced leaching of nitrogen and potassium.
• Resource conservation — saves water, energy, labour, and time.
• Efficient micronutrient delivery — trace elements (iron, zinc, boron, manganese) delivered in small measured doses.
• Weed management — targeted delivery limits weed growth between crop rows; combined with plastic mulch, cuts weeding cost.

Fertigation Promotion

• Per Drop More Crop component of PMKSY funds micro-irrigation plus fertigation.
• Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) and Precision Agriculture programmes include fertigation.
• State horticulture missions subsidise drip and fertigation kits.

Other Modern Agri-Inputs

Neem-Coated Urea

Made mandatory for all subsidised urea from 2015. Neem coating slows urea release, reduces pilferage for industrial use, improves nitrogen use efficiency, and prevents leaching.

Bio-fertilisers and Bio-pesticides

• Rhizobium, Azotobacter, PSB (Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria), mycorrhiza — biological nitrogen and phosphorus fixers.
• Trichoderma, pheromone traps, neem-based bio-pesticides — non-chemical pest management.
• PKVY and NMNF promote these for cluster-based organic and natural farming.

Vermicompost and Green Manures

• Vermicompost — composting organic matter using earthworms.
• Green manures — dhaincha (Sesbania), sunn hemp (Crotalaria), and cluster bean — to fix nitrogen and improve soil structure.

Compressed Biogas (CBG) and Organic Compost

The SATAT initiative (2018) and GOBARdhan scheme (2020) aim to convert cattle dung and crop residue into CBG and organic compost — reducing stubble burning and supporting circular agriculture.

Fertiliser Subsidy Reform

Fertiliser subsidy in India has three tracks:

• Urea — retail price controlled; subsidy paid to companies.
• Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers — Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) regime since 2010; retail prices decontrolled.
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to manufacturers based on actual sales at Point of Sale (PoS) machines across retail outlets.

PM-PRANAM

PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment, and Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM-PRANAM) was approved in 2023 to incentivise states to reduce chemical fertiliser use and promote organic, natural, and biological inputs. States get 50% of the subsidy savings as grant for the purpose.

Subsidy Leakage and Diversion

Urea is cheap and widely diverted to industrial use (melamine, plywood, resin) or smuggled across borders to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Neem coating and PoS-based DBT have significantly reduced this leakage since 2015.

Latest developments (2024-26)

• Budget 2024-25 — fertiliser subsidy budgeted at Rs 1.64 lakh crore; Nano Urea and Nano DAP promoted through NABARD refinance and PLI exploration.
• Budget 2025-26 — fertiliser subsidy retained around Rs 1.67 lakh crore; enhanced push for domestic P&K production and natural farming.
• National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) — formally approved November 2024 with Rs 2,481 crore outlay and 15,000+ Bio-Input Resource Centres.
• Nano Urea production capacity expanded — 6 plants operational by 2024 across IFFCO, RCF, KRIBHCO, producing 30+ crore bottles/year; Nano DAP plants commissioned.
• PM-PRANAM — operational since 2023-24; states beginning to access savings-linked grants.
• GOBARdhan — over 1,000+ CBG plants announced; CBG blended with CNG in phased manner.
• Updated context: With global fertiliser prices volatile, the Production Linked Incentive for urea and P&K remains under active consideration by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

UPSC Relevance

GS-III Mapping

• Major crops and cropping patterns, cropping intensity — fertiliser use central.
• Issues of farm subsidies — fertiliser subsidy rationalisation.
• Sustainable agriculture, environment, and water pollution.
• Science and technology — nano-technology applied to agriculture.

Prelims Pointers

• Nano Urea Liquid — launched by IFFCO in 2021; Nano DAP launched 2023.
• ONOF (Bharat brand) — launched August 2022 under PMBJP.
• Neem-coated urea mandated from 2015.
• PM-PRANAM — approved 2023; incentivises chemical-fertiliser reduction.
• Ideal NPK ratio = 4:2:1.
• GOBARdhan scheme — 2020; rural CBG and compost.

Mains Angles

• "Discuss the role of Nano Urea and fertigation in reducing India's fertiliser subsidy burden and improving soil health." (GS-III)
• "Evaluate the One Nation One Fertiliser scheme against the criticism that it disincentivises private R&D."
• "Imbalanced NPK use threatens Indian soils. Suggest policy reforms based on PM-PRANAM and NBS."
• "Examine the contribution of nano and bio-fertilisers to India's sustainable agriculture agenda."

A paradigm shift is underway in Indian agri-inputs — from high-volume, subsidy-driven chemical use toward nano, bio, and precision inputs. Combined with fertigation, natural farming, and PM-PRANAM incentives, this can cut the subsidy bill while protecting soils. For UPSC, pair the scheme architecture with Budget 2025-26 subsidy numbers and nano-fertiliser rollout data.