Nano urea a revolution in agricultural sector, says Union minister

The nano urea is a revolution in the agriculture field. It will reduce storage space and money while improving yield, said Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers.

He was speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of South India's first nano urea (liquid) production plant by IFFCO at Naganayakanahalli in Devanahalli Taluk on Thursday evening.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai laid the foundation stone for the plant. The plant is estimated to be built in 15 months, at a cost of Rs 350 crore, on 12 acres of KIADB land. It is expected to produce 5 crore bottles of 500ml each per annum.

This is India’s second nano urea production plant. The other one is operational in Gujarat and produces 1.5 lakh bottles every day.

Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba and others were present on the occasion.

“The subsidy is given to fertilisers had stopped many innovations in the agriculture field. Nano urea will reduce the subsidy burden of the government, even if the price of urea increases in the international market. It will also reduce the urea import,” Mandaviya said.

This can be sprayed using drones and will protect soil quality thereby increasing the yield. The trials are in the final stage, he added.

Nano DAP is also in the trial stage, and India is about to become self-sufficient in fertilisers, he added.

“The PM had directed that the price of the fertiliser should not increase even if subsidy increases and there should not be a shortage as well. India has not faced a shortage of fertiliser in the last two years,” Mandaviya said. Scientists and IFFCO took up the challenge of becoming self-sufficient and came up with an indigenous nano product, he added.

Addressing the gathering, the chief minister thanked the Union government for choosing the state for this project. He likened granular urea to chemotherapy that causes collateral damage, saying that it pollutes the soil and water. He called nano urea "a farmers' friend" that saves them on the cost of transportation and storage space while helping them get better yield.

The Karnataka government has signed deals with two companies for manufacturing ammonia from seawater, one of the plants is coming up near Mangaluru, he said.

What is liquid nano urea?

Liquid nano urea is urea in the form of liquid with a smaller particle size compared to conventional urea. Cheaper than conventional urea, nano urea is expected to reduce the environmental pollution caused by the granular form, by reducing its excessive application.

It has been tested on more than 90 crops across 11,000 locations in India. Half a litre of nano urea priced at Ra 240 can replace about one bag of conventional urea.

When sprayed on leaves, nano urea enters through pores and other openings and is assimilated by the plant cells. Unutilised nitrogen is stored in the plant vacuole and is slowly released for proper growth and development of the plant. The small size (20-50 nm) of nano urea increases its availability to crops by more than 80%.

This was indigenously developed through the proprietary technology at the Indian Farmers' Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd's (IFFCO) Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) in Kalol of Gandhinagar district. It was found to increase crop yield by 8%. Prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first nano urea liquid plant by IFFCO near Kalol town of Gujarat's Gandhinagar in May this year. Nano urea liquid is expected to potentially replace 13.7 million tonnes of conventional urea usage by 2023 and is expected to save Rs 40,000 crore in foreign exchange.