Good News for Farmers-Govt Nods to Commercial Release of Nano-DAP

The agriculture ministry has approved the commercial release of nano-diammonium phosphate, for reducing subsidies and the import dependence on the fertilizer variety. Nano-DAP will be manufactured by India Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative and Coromandel International, and one bottle will cost around Rs. 600 and an official notification will be issued soon.

The ICAR had earlier talked about the provisional release of nano-DAP for one year which is half the cost of a conventional DAP bag of 50 Kg, following the completion of biosafety and toxicity studies. Currently, the cost of one bag of conventional DAP is Rs 1,350, while the overall cost of a bag is Rs 4,000. This gap between the actual cost and prices for farmers is supported by the government under the fertilizer subsidy head.

According to FE Sources,” IFFCO would be selling 500-ml bottles of nano-DAP costing around Rs 600-650, which will have the same effect of a bag of conventional soil nutrients. “As we import substantial quantities of DAP, our import dependence on soil nutrients and the subsidy expenses would reduce,” an official said.

India imports about 25 per cent of its annual consumption of urea and more than half of the DAP requirement is imported.

Imports register for a 3rd of domestic soil nutrient consumption of around 60 million tonnes annually. Last year in December Fertiliser minister Mansukh Mandaviya commented that with the larger use of nano-urea and nano-DAP, the fertilizer subsidy offered by the government could be reduced over the next couple of years.

A senior government functionary said,” The Nano-DAP is planned for rollout before the Kharif season.” Officials said the productivity of nano urea is more than 80% as compared to around 40% of conventional urea.

Also Read:

PM PRANAM-Features and Objectives of This Scheme

Telangana Observe Rapid Growth in Agriculture Exports