The Hindu Business Line : `Potassic fertilisers must be given more subsidy'

FERTILISER manufacturers should look at the possibility of diverting a part of the Rs 15,000-crore subsidy to encourage the use of potash-based fertilisers, said Mr Satish Chander, Joint Secretary, Union Agriculture Ministry.

He said that a lion's share of the subsidy was directed towards nitrogenous fertilisers, which were being overused, while potash-based fertilisers were being ignored to the detriment of soil health.

According to officials, of the Rs 12,000-crore subsidy last year, more than Rs 8,000 crore was towards nitrogenous fertilisers. The balance was directed towards phosphatic and potassic fertilisers.

Mr Chander said balanced fertiliser use was a major concern, particularly in the northern States where the imbalances were more than in the South. Potassic fertilisers were essential to crops to give them drought- and disease-resistance. Against the ideal ratio of 4:2:1 of nitrogenous, phospate and potassic fertilisers(NPK), the ratio was 3.3:1.2:1 in the South, 4.2:1.6:1 in the East and in 21.7:16.5:1 in the North.

More than 70 per cent of potassic fertilisers in India was consumed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

There are over 150 million farmers in the country and about 540 soil testing laboratories. Of these, only about 100 laboratories are sufficiently equipped to carry out extensive tests. The numbers should be doubled over the next two to three years, and industries and agriculture graduates should come forward to set up such laboratories, he said.

Mr Chander was addressing a conference here on Tuesday on potassium in balanced fertilisation in Tamil Nadu, organised by the Fertiliser Association of India.

Dr M.D. Stauffer, President, Potash and Phosphate Institute, Saskatoon, Canada, said that there was an immediate need to study and revamp soil categorisations in Tamil Nadu.

When soil supposedly high in potassic content was treated with potassium fertilisers, the crop yield increases. This indicates indicating the need for more potassium. With ideal application of potassic fertilisers, farmers in Tamil Nadu can take productivity of paddy to more than 8 tonnes a hectare, cassava to more than 50 tonnes and banana to more than 100 tonnes.