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The use of zinc is on the rise in Indian agriculture, but more needs to be done to achieve food security and nutritional security of the growing population, said Andrew Green, Executive Director of International Zinc Association (IZA).
“According to estimates, about 40 per cent of the agricultural soils or about 60 million hectares in India are zinc deficient. Most of this zinc deficiency is found in the soils of Western India, mainly Rajasthan, Central and South India. Increasing awareness among the farmers to use the micronutrient in fertiliser formulations is crucial to boost not only food production and productivity but also increasing farm incomes,” Green added.
Increasing awareness
In a bid to promote use of zinc, IZA along with Hindustan Zinc recently announced a project to study the effect of zinc application on crop productivity, soil health and popularising the zinc fertilisation among the farmers in collaboration with the Maharana Pratap University (MPU) in Udaipur. As part of the project, MPU would engage and mentor around 100 farmers to incorporate zinc to increase productivity, starting with wheat and maize in the next cropping season.
Soumitra Das, Director (South Asia), Zinc Nutrient Initiative, IZA, said the best way to address the issue of zinc deficiency is to increase the awareness and educate the farmers. “It is estimated that about 50 per cent of the cereal-cultivated soils globally are deficient in plant-available zinc, leading to reductions in crop production and nutritional quality. Therefore, we have planned a strategic multi-step approach consisting of a proposed study on new and innovative products/technologies,” Das said.
Citing fertiliser industry estimates, Das said India’s zinc consumption in agriculture is over 2 lakh tonnes per annum. However, IZA believes that the consumption ranges between 2.5-3 lakh tonnes and has the potential to increase to around 7 lakh tonnes if all the micronutrient requirement of the crops are met, Green said.
Zinc sulphate is widely consumed world over in the farm sector. Among the overall zinc fertiliser consumed in the country, zinc sulphate has 75-80 per cent share, Das said. Also, the use of zinc sulphate monohydrate is picking up because of the handling property and is considered value for money by the farmers.
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