Assam: Farmers Apprehensive About Using Nano Urea Over Granular Fertiliser

During the ongoing Monsoon session of the parliament, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi, asked a question about the revival of the BVFCL (Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Limited) at Namrup, Assam, commonly known as the Namrup fertiliser plant.

Bhagwanth Khuba, State Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, answering Gogoi's question, said that a group of officers headed by the Niti Aayog CEO recommended the plant's closure on August 22, 2022.

Khuba's statement led to protests in Assam, as the Namrup plant is seen as a source of employment and a symbol of pride.

After the protests, the government backtracked.

The Union Minister of Chemical and Fertiliser Mansukh Mandaviya said that the plant will not be closed; rather, it will be updated, and alongside, a Nano Urea plant will be set up. Cabinet minister and former CM of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal also tweeted, repeating Mandaviya's statements.

Namrup plant's revival and its upgradation have been longstanding demands of the people of Assam; the demands came from trepidations of the closure of one of the oldest fertiliser plants in Assam.

Despite the updated statement by the government, people are not convinced.

Only time will tell whether or not the plant upgradation and nano urea set-up get materialised. However, nano urea is already in use in Assam. Paddy and tea farmers have used the product and are not pleased with its results.

Assam Farmers in a Fix About Nano Urea

NewsClick spoke to farmers engaged in various agricultural practices from several districts of Assam.

Pulin Tipamiya from Dibrugarh district has tried nano urea in his small tea garden. After not seeing any visible improvement, he stopped its usage.

Dibrugarh is a tea-producing hub of Assam consisting of many small-scale tea growers and huge players like Tata and Willaimson Magor. Tipamiya belongs to this section, and so does Biju Jaiswal, who also owns a fertiliser dealership.

When asked about nano urea, Jaiswal told NewsClick, "In my shop, people from IFFCO (Indian Fertiliser and Farmers' Cooperative) gave the nano urea bottles saying that it is more effective than the conventional granular one. They also told me how to use it."

Jaiswal said that about 30% of the users had responded positively about using nano urea, furthering that gardens by Tata and Williamson Magor have also used it, but not on a large scale. He said the half-litre nano urea bottles were made available in their area in 2022.

However, from his experience, Jaiswal appeared apprehensive.

"We are not clear. The amount is too little, half a litre of nano urea in 150 litres of water.

Similarly, Prem Telli of Rotuwa, Sonitpur district, said he used it only once this year for the first time. He also said the fertiliser dealer shops in his area told them about the new product, and he bought a half-litre bottle for Rs 200. He mixed 30 ml of the nano urea in 15 litres of water.

Telli explained why he stopped using the nano product.

"We use urea in tea plants every year, and with the granular urea, we used to see the results in about a week after it is applied— the leaves become greener and softer. But after spraying the nano product to the leaves as recommended, we could not see any positive results and then were compelled to return to granular urea again."

The conventional granular urea generally comes in packets of 45 kilograms costing around Rs 250-300/packet, and the nano urea half a litre bottle costs between Rs 200-225.

Assam's farmers from other districts have similar kinds of experience with nano urea, and they are not sure how this product entered the market.

"We learned about nano urea from the fertiliser shops (dealers, where farmers have to submit an Aadhar card or undergo biometric identification before getting the subsidised fertilisers), and as advised, we used them. In our locality, the agriculture officer and the SDO (Sub-Divisional Officer) gave some briefings about the new product,"—said Sahriful Islam from Doloigaon, Morigaon district.

He said that nano alone did not provide the desired results.

We received similar responses from Nalbari and Udalguri districts.

On the condition of anonymity, one fertiliser dealer on the outskirts of Guwahati told NewscCick that spraying would not be fruitful in Assam.

"A farmer will prefer throwing the granular urea in the soil rather than spraying the nano urea because spraying in huge fields will cost them more."

This concern was also raised by a retired professor from Assam Agricultural University (AAU).

These narratives pose questions about whether farmers used the product correctly or whether it was circulated in Assam without proper field trials.

AAU Field Trials on Nano Urea in Assam

NewsClick approached Surajit Kalita, the directorate of research (agri), AAU, who heads the project sponsored by IFFCO, studying the effect of nano urea (liquid) in reducing the application of conventional urea and increasing crop productivity and profitability.

Kalita said that the project is still undergoing field trials, and the 'recommendation' stage is yet to be achieved, hinting that trial results are yet to be analysed before recommending the product.

"The entire idea of nano urea is to reduce the use of granular variety by 33%. It doesn't mean a complete eradication of the conventional product. The IFFCO recommendation also says that granular and nano urea are needed," Kalita said. He also apprised us that an AAU trial is customary before an agri product is recommended in Assam.

Kalita further said, "Nano urea is sprayed two times with a reduction in the use of the granular variety, and we are doing it across the six ecological zones of Assam. The KVK (Krishi Vigyan Kendra) are also doing trials on farmers' field in these zones. Generally, it takes two years of field trials before a product is recommended to be public."

He also apprised that using both types of urea can lead to a 33% reduction in the use of the granular variety without compromising productivity.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilisers, in its recent report (March 2023), provided the All India experimental Results of Nano Urea on Kharif crops started in 2021.

The standing committee report says that in Assam, the nano urea is being tested on rice (rainfed), whereas Assam's tea planters have also used it and abandoned it afterwards.

The report leaves blank what additional yield, the percentage increase in yield, and economic benefits the RDF (recommended dose of fertiliser) offered. This pertains to the fact that the field trials are still under process in Assam.

Notably, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, in August 2021, three months after becoming the CM of Assam, virtually flagged off the first consignment of nano urea for Assam. On the occasion, Sarma urged IFFCO to set up a plant in Assam. The nano urea was first introduced in the country in May 2021.

Considering everything, the question is how the IFFCO product has reached the farmers of nooks and corners of Assam without completing the AAU trial, especially considering the state's climatic condition.