Nano Urea
2023 MAR 28
Preliminary >
Agriculture > Miscellaneous > Innovation and New technologies
Why in news?
- The Department of Fertilizers conducted an audit which revealed a variation of 25-50% in the reduction of nitrogen use after the application of nano urea.
- The use of nano urea can help the government save approximately Rs 25000 crore in subsidy bills annually and reduce India's dependence on urea imports.
About Nano Urea:
- Urea is chemical nitrogen fertilizer, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.
- Liquid nano urea is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.
- It is a patented chemical nitrogen fertilizer produced by IFFCO.
Why Nano Urea?
- Nano urea is cheaper
- Rs 240 for half litre without subsidy
- International market price of a bag of urea is between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,000.
- A bottle of nano urea can effectively replace at least one bag of urea.
- Saves FER, as India is dependent on imports for urea:
- As of 2022, the country's domestic urea production is around 26 million tonnes while demand is around 35 million tonnes.
- The efficiency of Nano urea (nutritional use efficiency) can be as high as 85-90 per cent (Conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25 per cent).
- As Nano urea has higher surface-mass ratios that help in releasing nutrients to plants in a controlled manner.
- Nano urea has a shelf life of a year, and farmers need not be worried about “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.
Other benefits of Nano urea:
- Targeted supply:
- Fertilizers in nano form provide a targeted supply of nutrients to crops, as they are absorbed by the stomata, and pores found on the epidermis of leaves.
- Reduces the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea.
- Increases crop productivity by 8%
- Reduces soil, water, and air pollution.
- Reduces fertilizer subsidy bill of government.
PRACTICE QUESTION
Which of the following are the potential benefits of using Nano Urea in the farm?
1. It has higher surface-mass ratios that help in releasing nutrients to plants in a controlled manner
2. It has higher shelf life as compared to convention urea
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer