Nano Urea

Why is in news? Dr Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates IFFCO Nano Urea Liquid Plants at Aonla and Phulpur in UP

The Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, inaugurated the IFFCO Nano Urea Liquid Plants at Aonla and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing the event, the Minister stated that today is an important day because Nano urea plants have been dedicated to the nation. He said that Nano Urea, in the coming times will ensure the progress of the farmers, increase their income. In this way it will change the future of our farmer.

Nano urea is a liquid fertilizer developed by IFFCO. It is an alternative to conventional urea. It is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.

Urea is a chemical nitrogen fertilizer, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.

It aims to reduce farmers’ dependence on packaged urea.

The usual practice for recommending or rejecting a new fertilizer for commercial use required three seasons of independent assessment by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), but in the case of nano urea this was reduced to two.

By FY25, around 440 million bottles of 500 ml nano urea will be produced. This will be equivalent to around 20 million tonnes of urea. It will take care of the 9 million tonnes that India imports annually.

The country's domestic urea production is around 26 million tonnes, while demand is around 35 million tonnes. And, the gap is met through imports.

The government will save foreign exchange of Rs 40,000 crore approximately per annum after replacing the conventional urea with the Nano Urea.

The import of urea may not be required after 2023-24.

Benefits:

It has a shelf life of a year and farmers need not be worried about “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.

Its price comes in a half-litre bottle priced at Rs 240, and carries no burden of subsidy currently. By contrast, a farmer pays around Rs 300 for a 50-kg bag of heavily subsidised urea.

The conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25 percent; the efficiency of liquid nano urea can be as high as 85-90 per cent.

Liquid nano urea is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant.

Fertilisers in nano form provide a targeted supply of nutrients to crops, as they are absorbed by the stomata, pores found on the epidermis of leaves.

It will reduce the country’s subsidy bill and it is aimed at reducing the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea.