Nano Urea

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