Fertiliser subsidy, import up in 3 years

Indian farming sector has witnessed raise in the subsidyand import of fertilisers in the previous three yrs.

In a reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Substances and Fertilisers, reported the complete amount of subsidy disbursed on fertilisers improved to ₹1.31 lakh crore in 2020-21 towards ₹83,467 crore in 2019-20. It was at ₹73,435 crore in 2018-19.

Import of urea improved to 98.28 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2020-21 from 91.23 lt in 2019-20 and seventy four.eighty one lt in 2018-19.

The import of NPK improved to 13.ninety lt in 2020-21 towards 7.forty six lt in 2019-20 and five.forty six lt in 2018-19.

For the duration of 2020-21, the import of MOP and DAP improved to forty two.27 lt (36.70 lt in 2019-20), and forty eight.eighty two lt (forty eight.70 lt), respectively.

Use of bio-fertilisers

To a individual question on the use of bio-fertilisers and pesticides, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, reported bio-fertilisers are promoted through integrated nutrient management and are made integral part of deal of techniques produced by ICAR and state agriculture universities.

The consumption of chemical pesticides improved from 59,699 tonnes in 2018-19 to 61,701 tonnes in 2019-20, and to sixty two,192 tonnes in 2020-21.

To a question on the complaints of existence of unsafe chemical substances in foodstuff goods, Tomar reported the Meals Safety and Common Authority of India (FSSAI) has preset the Optimum Residue Restrictions (MRLs) for numerous pesticides, antibiotics, etc in foodstuff commodities below Meals Safety and Expectations (Contaminants, Poisons and Residues) Regulations 2011, which are reviewed from time to time.

Further more, samples of veggies, fruits and other crops are collected from the retail shops, markets, farm gate, etc below a central sector plan — ‘Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level’ — and analysed for pesticide residues.

From the evaluation of a complete of 1,72,437 samples of numerous foodstuff commodities during April 2014 to March 2021, residues were observed exceeding higher than MRLs in four,680 (two.7 per cent) samples. Reviews of such cases were shared with involved Condition governments to get appropriate lawful and corrective steps as per the provisions of the Pesticides Act 1968, he reported.