The Hindu Business Line : Farm sector needs soil revolution

Unless drastic steps are taken to improve soil fertility, India will not be able to take the great leap in food production to reach the target of 300 million tonnes by 2010.

UNLESS DRASTIC steps are taken to improve soil fertility, India will not be able to take the great leap in food production to reach the target of 300 million tonnes by 2010. — Akhilesh Kumar

The Green Revolution propelled India from a food importer to an exporter. Yet, over the years the farming method has created an alarming situation of polluted groundwater, tired soil, limited inputs and helpless farmers — all leading to inadequate food production. Indeed, by deciding to import five million tonnes of wheat this year, India has put pause to the momentum generated on the farm.

The share of agriculture in GDP has dropped to 22 per cent and the population depending on agriculture continues to be mired in poverty, penury and gloom. States that were the country's granaries are experiencing a steady decline in farm productivity turning agriculture un-remunerative and culminating in farmers' suicides.

The Green Revolution was based on fertiliser-responsive, short-duration High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds that raised productivity. Encouraged by the outstanding success in wheat, States that traditionally cultivated coarse grains joined the race to improve and increase rice production.

NITROGEN

Nitrogen, which produces the greenness in plants, is excessively used by Indian farmers. With the introduction of HYV seeds, the crops' response to nitrogen, especially urea, was dramatic. The success of the Green Revolution and the rising yields led the government to import urea in large quantities.

When naphtha-based units came up in the late-1970s, the availability and usage of urea increased. The advent of natural gas in the 1980s fuelled urea manufacture further. In addition, the Retention Price Scheme (RPS), which came into effect after the Marathe Committee submitted its report, increased investment in capacities, availability of the fertiliser and usage. With the decontrol of phosphates and potassic fertilisers in 1991, the use of urea became rampant.

By the mid-1990s the demand for urea shot up substantially forcing the government to import a record six million tonnes over two years to make it available to the nitrogen-addicted Indian farmer. Yet, foodgrains production started to stagnate.

PHOSPHOROUS

Phosphorous, the most vital element for plant growth, is considered almost immobile in the soil and shows its impact slowly. The crop output from soil deficient in phosphorous tends to fall, though with a time lag. Unfortunately, Indian agronomists did not value the importance of phosphorous as much as nitrogen and, therefore, it was not recommended for use. Also the unit bag price of DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) was quite high; a farmer could buy two bags of urea for the price of one bag of DAP. To encourage the use of DAP, 40 kg bags were proposed to make its application affordable.

Just when the advantages of using phosphates were beginning to be realised, phosphatic and potassic fertilisers were decontrolled in 1991, making them exceedingly expensive and taking them out of reach of the Indian farmer. The already skewed NPK (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) ratio of 4:2:1 in the 1990s swung out of control. The low usage of phosphorous affected the micronutrient absorption by plants leading to poor productivity.

Though over the last six years, phosphate usage is crawling back to the 1990 levels, enough damage has been done to weaken the soil. The import of phosphoric acid, the key driver of phosphatic fertiliser manufacture, holds the key to stabilising the NPK ratio.

POTASH

The second most important of the three major nutrients is wholly imported , as India does not have naturally occurring potash.

In the early 1970s, potash was not recognised as an important farm input. The wake-up call came in the 1980s when soil analysis proved that intensive agriculture had led to the depletion of of potash.

So, it was recommended for many crops but only as a basal application. A decade later , multiple split application of potash, including top dressing mixed with urea, began to be advocated.

As it takes a while for recommendation of experts to be implemented on the farm, the soil in various pockets is potash deficient though the country uses threemillion tonnes of the fertiliser annually.

Agriculture technology, especially fertiliser-related techniques, have not been able to energise the soil, which is severely depleted of key macro and micro nutrients.

The result: Stagnant food production despite favourable monsoons and increased fertiliser consumption.

Unless there is a total overhaul of all farm activities to re-energise the soil, the great dream of food production crossing 300 million tonnes by 2010 will remain just that.

(The author is Vice-President — Marketing — Godavari Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.)

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