Agriculture

NITI Aayog has released a report on the promotion of Bio and Organic Fertilisers.

Organic Fertilisers

• Organic fertilisers are substances made up of one or more unprocessed materials of a biological nature (plant/animal) and may include unprocessed mineral materials that have been altered through the microbiological decomposition process.
• Organic fertilisers are composted/fermented products made from organic wastes (city waste, agro-waste, crop residue, livestock waste, food processing industry waste etc.)
• Organic fertilisers specified under FCO, 1985 are classified into the following categories:

• City compost
• Vermicompost
• Phosphate-rich organic manure
• Organic manure
• Bio-enriched organic manure
• Bone meal (raw/steamed)
• Potash derived from rhodophytes
• Fermented organic manure
• Liquid-fermented organic manure

Biofertilisers

• Biofertilisers are different from organic fertilisers. Biofertilisers are defined as a product containing carrier-based (solid or liquid) living microorganisms which are agriculturally useful in terms of nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilisation or nutrient mobilisation, to increase the productivity of soil and/or crop (FCO 1985).
• Upon application to seed or soil, these microbial preparations multiply rapidly around emerging crop roots and fix/mobilise nutrients from air and soil, from unavailable form to available form.
• Nutrient solubilisers (P, K or Zn solubilizers) transform insoluble nutrients present in the soil to soluble form for easy uptake by crop plants.
• Average dose of mixed bio fertilisers application is 6 litre/hectare for liquid formulations and 12 kg/hectare for solid carrier-based for solid carrier-based, for fixation/solubilisation of 20-25 kg nutrients/hectare.
• Biofertilisers are available in four different forms:
  • Nitrogen fixers (Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Gluconacetobacter)
  • Phosphorus solubilisers (Wide range of bacteria, fungi and Mycorrhiza)
  • Potassium solubilisers (Bacillus mucilaginous, Bacillus edaphicus, Bacillus circulanscan, Frateuriaaurentia)
  • Zinc and other micronutrient solubilisers.

Regulation of Organic & Biofertilisers

• Organic & Biofertilisers are regulated by the Fertiliser (Inorganic, Organic or Mixed) (Control) Order (FCO, 1985) under the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
• Currently, 11 bio fertilisers & 10 organic fertilisers are approved under FCO for use in India as of now.

Need for promoting organic and biofertilisers

• Sustainable Agriculture: Organic and chemical-free agriculture can reverse environmental ill effects like groundwater depletion and loss of biodiversity etc primarily caused due to overuse of chemical fertilisers and pesticides after the green revolution.
  • Nutrient run-off from farms laced with chemical fertilisers adversely affects land ecosystems.
  • Ammonia emissions from agricultural activities can combine with vehicle exhausts to create dangerous particulates in the air and exacerbate respiratory diseases.
  • Chemical fertiliser production and use also lead to significant greenhouse gas emissions.
• Promoting Soil Health: India's soil is getting depleted of organic matter. Nutritional quality of food produced from soil poor in organic matter is also poor. Organic and bio fertilisers conserve the micro-fauna of soil and act as a natural surface purifier. Dung manure contains basic elements critical to plant health i.e., nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and several micronutrients. Also, humus in dung manure act as a soil amender and preserves moisture in the soil. Application of organic and bio fertilisers will lead to the sustainability of agriculture.
• Incomes for farmers and gaushalas: Promoting the use of cow dung manure will improve economy of gaushalas, support natural farming and improve sustainability of agriculture.
• Address the problem of stray cattle: Promoting use of cow and animal waste-based organic and bio-fertilisers will address the issue of stray cattle which has led to a big menace in rural areas.
• Waste management: Production of bio and organic fertilisers from animal waste, cow dung etc. will help to sustainably address the issue of waste management in rural areas.
• Less input cost of agriculture: Increasing the use of bio and organic fertilisers will reduce the input cost of farming and is expected to increase the incomes of farmers over the long term.
• Reduced expenditure on fertiliser subsidy: Fertilisers subsidy alone accounts for more than Rs 1,50,000 lakh crores per year. This increases the fiscal deficit of the government. This can be reduced if we promote the use of bio and organic fertilisers.
• Fertiliser security: Most chemical fertilisers have to be imported into India as India lacks domestic sources of phosphorous, potassium and urea. This dependence on imports exposes Indian agriculture to supply chain constraints. Thus, promoting bio and organic fertilisers will come to the fertiliser supply more assured.

Government Initiatives for Promoting Organic and Biofertilisers

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana
• Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region
• Namami Ganga Program
• National Program for Organic Production
• Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme (CISS)
• Soil Health Management Scheme
• Policy on Promotion of City Compost
• New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme (NNBOMP)
• Government has set a target to bring additional 10 lakh hectares under organic farming in the next 3 years.

Challenges

• Heavy subsidies on chemical fertilisers especially urea discourage the use and uptake of organic fertilisers and biofertilisers, which do not get any subsidy.
• Limited R&D in the field of organic & bio fertilisers.
• Lack of regional resource centres for the supply of authentic and efficient microbial strains; Lack of awareness of biofertilisers for proper preservation, sub-culturing, storage, and procurement of authentic strains suitable for local environmental conditions.
• Lack of availability of options for enriched organic fertilisers with essential nutrients for agricultural use.
• Absence of economically viable mass production systems could lower the selling cost of biofertilisers.
• Inadequate funds are spent on the promotion of bio and organic fertilisers despite various schemes for their promotion of them.
• Lack of suitable infrastructure: Infrastructure support funds provided under schemes like the Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme and Soil Health Management have not seen much uptake in states and remain underutilised. Gaushalas and farmers cannot market compost and other organic fertiliser produced by them and there is no organised market and buyer for their produce.
• Lack of extension and awareness on the use and benefits of organic and bio fertilisers amongst farming communities.
• Issues of regulation: (i) FCO does not list some bio & organic fertilisers prepared from livestock waste such as Panchagavya, Dasagavya, Sheep & Goat Manure, Poultry Manure, Sanjivak, Gokripa Amrut, Amrit Pani, Fermented curd water, Ghanjivamrut, Crystallised cow urine. (ii) Lack of testing facilities and personnel and certification for organic and bio fertilisers in states which have slowed market prospects for manufacturers of organic fertilisers, especially PROM. (iii) Currently, the regulatory process for Bio and Organic fertilisers differs between states.

Way Forward

• Digitisation of the whole process of manufacturing, license to sale authorisation to a dealer, stock records and maintenance, timely sampling by an inspector as per FCO with time-bound consultation with States.
• Parity between inorganic and bio and organic fertilisers: There is a need for some parity in support for organic & bio fertilisers vis-a-vis organic, bio fertilisers and other animal waste-based compost, manures, jivamrit etc. This will also help cow farmers and cow shed owners earn extra income.
• Marketing of bio & organic fertiliser: (i) Public sector fertiliser distribution agencies like IFFCO, KRIBHCO and such state-level agencies should be mandated to market standardised bio and organic fertilisers. (ii) A mechanism should be established to mandate fertiliser selling and manufacturing agencies to sell inorganic and organic fertiliser. (iii) Policy support to encourage commercial production, packaging, marketing & distribution of cow dung-based organic fertilisers including brand development. (iv) Gram panchayats should be involved in the production of organic and bio fertilisers at cow sheds.
• Expanding the scope of FCO, 1985: (i) FCO, 1985 should be amended to include livestock waste fertilisers such as Panchagavya etc. (ii) Adequate testing facility should be created for manufacturers of organic and bio fertilisers. (iii) Quality certification of bio and organic fertilisers should be undertaken which would help farmers to identify safe and certified products. (iv) There is a need for uniformity in the regulatory process accommodating state specificities across India for registration and marketing of bio and organic fertilisers.
• Incentives to encourage production and consumption of bio & organic fertilisers: (i) Extension of subsidy/market development assistance for bio fertiliser in line with city compost Rs 1500/ton. (ii) Mandatory 10-20% off-take of bio and organic fertiliser by fertiliser companies. (iii) Via gap funding to be provided to capital assistance and marketing of cow dung and cow-urine-based formulations for application in agriculture. (iv) Attracting the private sector to invest in mass-scale production of organic and bio fertilisers, bio pesticides, soil-enriching products and stimulants for use in agriculture.
• Research & Development: (i) Improvement of efficiency of different formulations of organic and bio fertiliser. (ii) ICAR and other institutions should be encouraged to research organic & biofertilisers. (iii) These institutions should be encouraged to carry extension among farmers to take over bio and organic fertilisers.

About National Horticulture Board (NHB):

• The NHB was set up by the Government of India in 1984 as an Autonomous organisation under the administrative control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• It is registered as a society under Societies Registration Act with its headquarters at Gurugram.
• Presently, NHB has 29 field offices located all over the country.

Aims & Objectives of NHB Schemes:

The main objectives of the NHB are to improve integrated development of the Horticulture industry and to help in coordinating, sustaining the production and processing of fruits and vegetables. Detailed objectives of the Board are as under:-

• Development of hi-tech commercial horticulture in identified belts and make such areas vibrant with horticultural activity, which in turn will act as hubs for development of horticulture.
• Development of modern post-harvest management infrastructure as an integral part of area expansion projects or as a common facility for clusters of projects.
• Development of integrated, energy efficient cold chain infrastructure for fresh horticulture produce.
• Popularisation of identified new technologies / tools / techniques for commercialization / adoption, after carrying out technology and need assessment.
• Assistance in securing availability of quality planting material by promoting setting up of scion and rootstock banks / mother plant nurseries and carrying out accreditation / rating of horticulture nurseries and need based imports of planting material.
• Promotion and market development of fresh horticultural produce.
• Promotion of field trials of newly developed/imported planting materials and other farm inputs; production technology; PHM protocols, INM and IPM protocols and promotion of applied R&D programmes for commercialization of proven technology.
• Promotion of Farm Mechanization in Horticulture through demonstration and its uses at farmers field level to reduce labour cost and increase the productivity of Horticulture crops.
• Promotion of applied R & D for standardising PHM protocols, prescribing critical storage conditions for fresh horticulture produce, benchmarking of technical standards for cold chain infrastructure etc.
• Transfer of technology to producers/farmers and service providers such as gardeners, nurserymen, farm level skilled workers, operators in cold storages, work force carrying out post harvest management including processing of fresh horticulture produce and to the master trainers.
• Promotion of consumption of horticulture produce and products.
• Promoting long distance transport solutions for bulk movement of horticulture produce through rail etc.
• Carrying out studies and surveys to identify constraints and develop short and long term strategies for systematic development of horticulture and providing technical services including advisory and consultancy services.

Wheat production will not drive food inflation in India. The reason is the world has overcome, if not shrugged off, the effects of the Ukraine war. The supply situation has changed from deficit to, perhaps, surplus in most agri-commodities.

Reasons to support the contention that ‘wheat production will not drive food inflation in India:

• Grain filling in wheat crop occurs at temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius. The maximum shouldn’t cross 37 degrees before March-end. Last year, maximum temperatures breached the 35-degrees mark in the northern plains by mid-March and 40 degrees before the month-end. Last year the mercury spiked, leading to a marginal dip in India’s wheat output. This year, record February temperatures raised concerns about the current crop, but so far, the crop looks fine, with maximum temperatures hovering at 30-33 degrees in March.
• Global prices  of urea and di-ammonium phosphate has fallen from recent peaks is quite steep.
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index hit a historic high of 159.7 points in March 2022, the month that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But since then, the FAO index has fallen every month to touch 129.8 points in February 2023.
• Wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade futures exchange have more than halved since March 2022, and the US Department of Agriculture has projected all-time-high exports of wheat by Russia, Australia, and Kazakhstan.
• Palm oil prices in Malaysia have also retreated from an unprecedented high in March 2022, and record production and exports are expected of palm oil from Indonesia, soybean from Brazil and sunflower from Russia, alongside increased rapeseed supplies from Canada and the European Union.
• The decline in international food prices will help ease food inflation pressures in India caused by weather shocks and supply disruptions last year.
• The world has overcome the effects of the Ukraine war, with the supply situation changing from deficit to surplus.
• The falling international prices will also enable the Indian government to import wheat and other food items to meet domestic demand, if needed.

Prelims Pointer: Condition for wheat production

Wheat is a staple crop that is grown in many parts of the world. The conditions required for wheat production include:

• Climate: Wheat requires a temperate climate with moderate rainfall. It grows best in areas with an average temperature of 15-20°C during the growing season and a rainfall of 500-600 mm.
• Soil: Wheat can grow in a wide range of soils, but it prefers well-drained loamy soils with a pH range of 6.0-7.5. The soil should be rich in organic matter and have adequate nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
• Sunlight: Wheat requires plenty of sunlight for photosynthesis and growth. It grows best in areas with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day.
• Water: Wheat requires adequate moisture throughout its growing season. Irrigation may be necessary in areas with low rainfall or prolonged dry spells.
• Pests and diseases: Wheat is susceptible to various pests and diseases, including aphids, armyworms, rusts, and smuts. Appropriate measures should be taken to prevent and control these pests and diseases.

Overall, the conditions required for wheat production vary depending on the variety of wheat being grown, the location, and the agricultural practices used. However, the above-mentioned factors are the key requirements for successful wheat production.