THE DISQUIET AROUND IFFCO'S MAGIC FERTILIZER

Nano urea was expected to disrupt the fertilizer sector. Instead, it is battling efficacy red flags and farmers’ ire

- Sayantan Bera

This will be the "innovation of the century for the mankind". That's how the 2020-21 annual report of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (Iffco), India's largest producer of crop nutrients, began. The reference was to nano urea, a fertilizer the company developed. The product has the "power to revolutionize farming and fight climate change," Iffco further stated.

In August 2021, Iffco commercially launched the world's first nano urea. It claimed that a 500ml bottle of nano urea is as effective as a 45kg bag of urea. While a bottle of nano urea costs just 225, the actual cost of a bag of urea, including government subsidies, is ₹3,000.

Urea is the most popular crop nutrient the most important source of nitrogen for crops which is required for photosynthesis and vegetative growth.

With two sprays, farmers could drastically reduce the use of granular and heavily subsidized urea by almost half. The fertilizer ministry estimates that a 25% replacement of regular urea with non-subsidized nano urea could save the exchequer up to 20,000 crore every year.

A few numbers show why nano fertilizers are critical. The subsidy outgo for urea was a staggering 2.5 trillion in the previous two years, 2021-22 and 2022-23 Farmers pay 2022-23. Farmers pay less than 300 per 50kg bag of urea while it costs 3,000 to produce one. Of the 35 million tonnes (mt) of urea applied by farmers every year, imports account for about 8-9mt.

In 2021-22 and 2022-23, Iffco produced 77 million bottles of nano urea and sold 54 million bottles to farmers. The target is to raise annual production to 440 million bottles by 2025, which can cut use of regular urea by a staggering 20mt. This would result in self-sufficiency in urea production and no imports-a major feat, if achieved.