Page 179 - CW E-Magazine (13-2-2024)

Special Report Special Report

Fertiliser sector – Vital for agricultural production ever, in case of feedstock, i.e., LNG, it is heavily dependent on imports for
various raw materials.
used for production of urea, the import
dependence is about 80% at present.
griculture is one of the core remarkable increase in production of ARVIND CHAUDHARY For phosphatic fertilisers, more than The indigenous rock phosphate
sectors of the Indian economy. oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, fruits, veg- Director General 90% of the demand is sourced through available is of low grade. Chemical-
AIt contributes about 18% to etable crops, etc. during the period. Fertiliser Association of India imports, either in the form of fi nished based technologies are now available
GDP. Quite a large number of Indian Email: dg@faidelhi.org products or raw materials. The country for benefi ciation of such low grade rock.
rural population depends on it for their Myths about fertilisers is 100% import dependent on MOP. These may be explored for augmenting
livelihood. Agriculture also provides There are certain myths being crea- through indigenous production and indigenous rock phosphate resources.
raw materials to various agri-based in- ted in certain quarters that use of import by adopting meticulous supply- Arranging imports is an uphill
dustries. Population of the country has chemical fertilisers is harmful to the chain strategies across the country. The task. However, the industry has always The capacity utilization of a com-
reached a level of about 143-crore and environment. The reality is the other use effi ciency of applied nutrients is ensured import of fi nished fertiliser plex fertiliser plants is not yet fully
the same will continue to rise. To meet way around. To call fertiliser a chemi- low. Therefore, the farmers need to be products and raw materials used for cy of ammonia and urea plants have utilised due to various factors. These
the growing needs of the burgeoning cal is a misnomer as they are manu- encouraged to make use of the scheme production of fertilisers even during improved by more than 35% over last include high cost of raw materials, com-
population in terms of food, feed, fi bre factured from natural resources such of distribution of soil health cards of COVID-19 and periods of geopoliti- 36 years, thereby leading to reduction petition from imported fertiliser prod-
and fuel, the growth in agriculture is as natural gas (hydrogen), atmosphere Government of India in the right fi t- cal confl ict so that agricultural produc- of 44% in carbon dioxide emission dur- ucts, taxation and other policy issues.
necessary on sustainable basis. (nitrogen), rock phosphate (phosphorus) ness for their benefi ts. Modern tools tion in the country is not affected. As ing the period. This was a result of con- However, the productivity of complex
and potash (potassium). Farmers also and technologies such as remote sens- a result, production of food grains in- certed efforts of plants in continuously fertiliser plants can be improved by
Fertiliser use and agricultural pro- acknowledged that it is not possible to ing, artifi cial intelligence, drone tech- creased from 297.5-mt in 2019-20 pre- implementing energy saving schemes identifying the bottlenecks affecting
duction enhance crop productivity without use nology, variable rate technology, crop COVID to 329.7-mt in 2022-23. and change in feedstock from fuel oil the performance with collaborative ef-
Fertiliser is the most important in- of fertilisers. Out of the two breads we modelling, site-specifi c nutrient man- and naphtha to natural gas, driven by forts with plant process licensors and
put in agriculture. There exists a direct eat, one is fertiliser-borne. The question agement, leaf colour chart and mobile Indian fertiliser industry the urea pricing policy. in-house expertise.
correlation between fertiliser use and that arises is: should we allow 50% of applications can help farmers make in- Growth of Indian fertiliser indus-
agricultural production. Fertiliser has the population to go hungry or nourish formed decisions about better nutrient try has kept pace with development in Greening of production FAI Annual Seminar 2023
played and will continue to play signi- them for their healthy life? Numerous management, reduce waste and mini- agriculture. To meet the increasing de- Having achieved a high level of ef- In the FAI Annual Seminar 2023
fi cant role in enhancing agricultural examples from all over the world have mize environment footprints. mand for plant nutrients by high yield- fi ciency, there are further challenges to with the theme ‘Innovations in Fertiliser
production. The testimony of the fact underlined the importance of fertilisers ing varieties evolved in late 1960s, a reduce carbon footprint. Government and Agriculture Sectors’, various areas
is that use of fertiliser in 1951-52 was in enhancing farm productivity. The objective of PM-PRANAM, number of plants were put up after the policies are under development for related to the subject were deliberated.
hardly 65-kt in terms of NPK nutri- notifi ed by the Government of India, is fi rst large-scale nitrogenous fertiliser transition toward greener production of
ents, which has increased to 29.8-mt Nutrient management to restore fertility of the Mother Earth. plant was set up in 1951 at Sindri. The fertiliser. The seminar was inaugurated by the
in 2022-23. The corresponding gain in Fertiliser industry has been playing The scheme aims to promote balanced policies of the government helped in Union Minister of Chemicals & Ferti-
food grain production has been from a pioneering role in making fertilisers and sustainable use of fertilisers, along adding up the capacities consistently Substitution of import-based grey lisers and Health & Family Welfare on
52-mt to 329.7-mt. There has also been available to more than 14-crore farmers with organic manures, alternative ferti- till late-1990s. In between, the closure ammonia with green ammonia may be December 6, 2023. More than 1,500
lisers, nano fertilisers, bio-fertilisers, etc. of a number of urea plants based on the fi rst step. Technologies for utilisa- delegates from India and abroad par-
Introduction of sulphur coated urea coal and naphtha were also witnessed. tion of green hydrogen in the existing ticipated in this event. In all, 18 papers
(SCU) will help to improve nitrogen Additional 4.0-mtpa of urea capacity ammonia plants have been proposed were presented by eminent speakers.
use effi ciency and provide sulphur in was unlocked by revamping of existing by the technology providers. However, These presentations covered the topics
sulphur-defi cient areas. Conversion of plants. New investment policy 2012 there are challenges with respect to related to policy intervention in ferti-
retail outlets to Pradhan Mantri Kisan encouraged commissioning of a brown- steam and energy balance, constraints liser sector, innovations for sustainable
Samriddhi Kendras will enable farmers fi eld urea plant after a gap of almost 17 in the existing layout, requirement of agriculture, transforming fertiliser pro-
to purchase fertilisers under one roof years. Thereafter, fi ve more urea plants long turnaround time and availability duction and innovations in marketing.
and also benefi t from the farm advisory were commissioned, and one more urea of renewable energy round the clock. A unique feature of this year’s seminar
services rendered through these centres. plant based on coal gasifi cation is under Besides, the solutions are capex-inten- was a special session on ‘Fertiliser Use
commissioning. sive, resulting in higher cost of green – Myth and Reality (Interaction with
Import dependence ammonia. farmers and media)’ chaired by Mem-
The country is import dependent Reducing the carbon footprint ber, NITI Aayog. In the session, good
to a great extent to meet its fertil- The ammonia-urea plants are highly The viability of such projects needs numbers of farmers and media person-
iser demand. In case of urea, import energy-intensive. Indian ammonia-urea to be ensured. nel participated.
dependence has been showing a path plants have achieved high level of en-
of decline due to commissioning and ergy effi ciency, comparable to the best Import dependence for raw materials [Indian Journal of Fertilisers, January
production from new urea plants. How- plants in the world. The energy effi cien- Another challenge with India is that 2024].

178 Chemical Weekly February 13, 2024 Chemical Weekly February 13, 2024 179

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