Fertilizer in agriculture of india

FERTILIZER IN AGRICULTURE

OF INDIA

TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

FOR

SUSTAINABLE AGRO-INDUSTRY

INPUTS FOR HIGHER AGRO-

PRODUCTIVITY

• Quality seeds

• Irrigation and drainage

• Fertilizer

• Protect against insects, pests, diseases:

agrochemicals

Sixteen elements are required by the crops:

• Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, [from water and

air],

• Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, [macro],

• Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur,

Chlorine,[micro],

• Iron, Manganese, Silicon, Boron, Zinc,

Copper, Nickel, Molybdenum and Selenium

[Traces]

The amount and relative proportion

of these

nutrients will depend on a number

of factors.

The most important factors are:

(i) nutrient status of soil and

(ii) nutrient requirement of the

crop.

TYPES OF FERTILIZERS

• Organic fertilizer or manure

• Chemical fertilizer

• Bio-fertilizer

• Composted manure

• Vermi - composted manure

Organic Manure

• Organic manure not only provides plant

nutrients but also improves soil

physical, chemical and biological

properties.

• In addition to fertilizers, the use or

organic manure is essential for

sustaining crop productivity.

• Preparation of good quality manure

Fill the mixture of dung, urine and other

materials layer by layer ; moistening it each

time.

Add suitable inoculum to hasten the rate of

decomposition of manure.

Enrich the mixture with 100 kg of rock

phosphate/bone meal/ superphosphate to

improve the nutrient content of manure.

Seal the pit with mud plaster after it is filled.

The manure ready for use after 4-6 months.

Primary Nutrients

• Nitrogen: Ammonia or nitrate salts

• Phosphorus: Water soluble phosphates

of calcium, Di-ammonium phosphate

• Potassium: Potassium chloride

Integrated Plant Nutrient Management

(IPNM)

It aims at maintaining soil fertility and plant nutrient supply

for sustainable crop productivity by adjusting

• chemical fertilizer,

• organic manure,

• biofertilizer and

• crop residues.

Different proportions of these components are to be used

based upon crop requirements and availability of materials

IPNM will be the means through which the long-

term fertility of the soil will be assured and

contamination of the environment minimized.

Yet, IPNM alone will not be sufficient to bring this

about; farmers need to adopt effective and

efficient crop, pest, soil, and water management

techniques as well. Governments have an

important role to play to promote effective and

environmentally sound management of plant

nutrients.

Institutions have to promote effective and

environmentally sound management of

o plant nutrients,

o improve research,

o monitoring,

o participation, and

o extension

of effective plant nutrient management.

Governments have to support complementary

measures to lower costs, recycle urban waste,

secure land tenure. Also it is necessary to

increase production capacity, to improve

transport and communication infrastructure, and

to establish an effective institutional environment

conducive to the efficient functioning of nutrient,

other input and output markets.

The cropping system rather than the individual crop

and the farming system rather than the individual field

are the focus of this approach for developing IPNM

systems for major agro-ecological zones and for

various categories of farms.

Control of pests and diseases in agriculture is very

important. Earlier approaches of insecticides

applications to contain pests is no longer desirable

because of their increasing costs and the adverse

effects on the environment. Therefore, the concept of

IPM all over the world has assumed great importance.

General nutrient recommendation for some

important crops

Bio fertilizers (BF) (microbial inoculants) are the

products containing living cells of different types

of micro organisms (bacteria, fungi,

actinomycetes, etc.) which have the ability to fix

atmospheric nitrogen and mobilize phosphorus

in the soil from unavailable form to plant usable

form. Use of Rhizobium culture in legumes is

most promising among different kinds of

biofertilizers

Vermi-Compost

Vermi-composting uses earthworms to

produce compost from organic residues.

Earthworms can practically eat all kinds of

organic matter. The guidelines for

preparing a good quality vermi - compost

should be adopted.

CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS

EXPENSIVE, TO PRODUCE THOUGH

NEEDED INPUT FOR HIGH YIELDING

FOOD CROPS, EXCESS CAN CAUSE

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVERSE IMPACT

Total P content in soil is usually high, but most of

this soil P pool is not in forms available for plant

uptake (insoluble in water). Bacteria that can

mobilize P from unavailable soil pools and increase

P availability to plants are of great importance. Most

predominant phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB)

belong to the genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas.

Field experiments highlight the potential importance

of PSB.

phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB)

o Sundara et al. (2002) applied rock phosphate

with a PSB (Bacillus megaterium var.

phosphaticum) in lignite-based culture medium

in a field experiment.

o They found that PSB amendment could

increase sugarcane yield by 12.6 percent.

o PSB and P fertilizer together reduced the P

requirement by 25 percent.

Furthermore, 50 percent of the costly

superphosphate could be replaced with

inexpensive rock phosphate. PSB also improved

the sugar yield and juice quality (Sundara et al.,

2002). In conclusion, biofertilizer based on PSB

may be of greatest value in allowing use of

cheaper P sources.

Indo Maroc Phosphore S A (IMACID), Chambal's

world-class joint venture phosphoric acid plant in

Morocco, commenced production in November

1999. The US$ 204 million joint venture project, in

equal participation with Office Cherifien Des

Phosphates (OCP) of Morocco, produces 3,30,000

tonnes per annum of merchant grade phosphoric

acid (54% of P2O5). OCP is the largest producer of

phosphoric acid in the world.

Phosphoric acid is a raw material for production

of DAP and other complex fertilizer grades. Zuari

Industries Limited buys its entire phosphoric acid

requirements from IMACID. This arrangement

ensures an uninterrupted supply of phosphoric

acid to the Company to produce DAP and also

helps bridge the gap between demand and

supply of phosphoric acid, since India imports

over 80% of its phosphoric acid requirement.

Fertilizers are basic nutrients supplied to soil,

which replenish the depletion or original deficiency

of nutrients in the soil. India is third largest

producer and consumer of chemical fertilizers in

the world, and accounts for 12% of the world

consumption. The consumption of chemical

fertilizers in 1999 was 75.26 kg/hectare. The net

sown area in India for food grains production is

about 141 million hectares.

Raw materials like phosphate rock, sulphur and

potassium salts are imported. Indigenously produced

fertilizer meets only about eighty per cent of the country’s

fertilizer need.

Indian fertilizer industry has played a significant role in

increasing food grains production along with high yielding

varieties of seeds and enhanced irrigation facilities,

during the green revolution of last thirty years.

Growth in fertilizer application took place from 78.4 lakh

tonnes in 1965-66 to about 140 lakh tonnes in 1995-96.

The estimated food grain consumption in 2011-12 is 298

million tonnes. To achieve this target an increase in

consumption of fertilizers to185.8 kg/ hectare is needed

The development of chemical fertilizer industry in India took

place in three phases.

From 1950-65, the awareness of the usefulness of

chemical fertilizers in enhancing the crop yield increased

along with due consideration for the practice of application

of organic manures and green manures. During this period

manufacturing facilities increased gradually.

From the year 1965, increase in farm productivity

was given more importance and growth in fertilizer

production and application was enhanced

significantly.

To provide fertilizers to farmers at reasonable price,

the Government of India from 1977 operated the

retention price cum subsidy scheme. The producers

were provided compensation by the Govt. for

supplying fertilizers at the controlled price.

In the mid-seventies prices of hydrocarbon raw materials

increased, followed by the mid-eighties finding the increase

in yield per mass of fertilizer applied reaching a saturated

stage.

Over the years, the cost of production has increased and

subsidy amount provided to industry greatly increased.

In 1992, decontrol of the prices of phosphatic and potassic

fertilizers were introduced. This was done as a part of a

policy, which was meant to bring the fertilizer industry in

line with the liberalized and. Pro-market economic policies.

The synergy between the application of inorganic

fertilizer and the development of nutrient-

responsive seed varieties was responsible for the

phenomenal growth in crop yields and food

supplies in developed countries over the past

thirty-five years. The ability of agriculture to

provide for food needs to the year 2020 and

beyond is increasingly difficult however.

In developed countries, over-application of

inorganic and organic fertilizers has led to

environmental damage, while

in developing countries, population pressures,

land constraints, and the decline of traditional

soil management practices have led to a decline

in the fertility of the soil.

The over-supply of nutrients from inorganic and

organic sources in excess of plant needs and in the

absence of a mechanism to bind the nutrients to

the soil, can lead to environmental contamination.

Soil nitrate concentrations in excess of plant

absorption needs, for example, allow the soluble

nitrate to be carried away in ground water to

contaminate surface waters and underground

aquifers.

Consumption of water high in nitrate (and nitrite)

has been linked to

• “blue baby syndrome,”

• goitre,

• birth defects and

• heart disease,

and may be involved in the creation of carcinogenic

compds within the body that can cause stomach or

liver cancers.

Leaching and run-off of nitrogen and phosphorus

into rivers, lakes, and inlets, can cause

eutrophication--an excess accumulation of

nutrients in water that promotes algal over-

production. Heavy application of inorganic NPK

fertilizers does not replace secondary and other

micro-nutrients removed by harvested crops,

crop residue and erosion, nor do they directly

improve soil organic matter content and structure.

Lastly, genetic engineering offers the potential in the

future for the plants themselves to meet some of their

nutrient requirements.

Together, these nutrient conservation and replenishment

methods need to be managed - reflecting the farmer's

particular bio-physical and socio-economic situations, in

such a way as to provide a cost effective and

appropriate level of nutrients to maximize yields and

sustain agriculture, without polluting the environment.