India to become atmanirbhar in fertilizer production by 2023: Sadananda Gowda

India will be self-reliant in the production of fertilizers by 2023, as under atmanirbhar Bharat programme, new fertilizer manufacturing units are being set up with an investment of Rs 40,000 crore to reduce dependency on import, Union Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.

He was addressing a webinar on “Self-Reliant India and Sustainable Agriculture ”organized by IFFCO for the farmers of Karnataka.

“As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s atmanirbhar Bharat vision to promote indigenous industries, we are converting all fertilizer companies to gas-based technology. Recently we have revived four plants (Ramagundam, Sindhri, Barauni and Gorakhpur) in India. By 2023 we should become self–sufficient in the production of fertilizer," he said.

"The government is encouraging the production of organic and nano fertilizers in the country as they are 25 to 30% cheaper and give 18 to 35% higher yield and keep the soil in good health," he said. He lauded the IFFCO’s Nano experiment and called it a game-changer.

He informed that nano fertilizers distributed freely to 12,000 farmers and agriculture universities across the country have given positive feedback, he said.

Gowda requested farmers to use urea judiciously as excessive use of urea may spoil the quality of the soil.

He praised the efforts of IFFCO during the Covid-19 pandemic period for not only keeping a regular supply of fertilizers but also organising campaigns by distributing masks, sanitizers and hand gloves to mitigate the spread of the virus.

More than 1500 farmers from Karnataka took part in the webinar. Managing Director of IFFCO U S Awasthi, Marketing Director Yogendra Kumar, IFFCO Karnataka marketing manager Narayanaswamy, agriculture scientists from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and others participated in the event.