Fertiliser subsidy, import up in 3 years

Indian farming sector has seen increase in the subsidyand import of fertilisers in the very last a few several years.

In a reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Chemical substances and Fertilisers, said the complete amount of subsidy disbursed on fertilisers enhanced 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 enhanced to 98.28 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2020-21 from 91.23 lt in 2019-20 and 74.81 lt in 2018-19.

The import of NPK enhanced to 13.ninety lt in 2020-21 towards seven.forty six lt in 2019-20 and 5.forty six lt in 2018-19.

Through 2020-21, the import of MOP and DAP enhanced to forty two.27 lt (36.70 lt in 2019-20), and 48.82 lt (48.70 lt), respectively.

Use of bio-fertilisers

To a individual query on the use of bio-fertilisers and pesticides, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said bio-fertilisers are promoted via built-in nutrient administration and are produced integral part of package deal of procedures developed by ICAR and condition agriculture universities.

The use of chemical pesticides enhanced from fifty nine,699 tonnes in 2018-19 to 61,701 tonnes in 2019-20, and to 62,192 tonnes in 2020-21.

To a query on the grievances of existence of hazardous chemical substances in food items, Tomar said the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has mounted the Maximum Residue Restrictions (MRLs) for a variety of pesticides, antibiotics, and so on in food commodities under Food Safety and Requirements (Contaminants, Harmful toxins and Residues) Regulations 2011, which are reviewed from time to time.

Additional, samples of veggies, fruits and other crops are gathered from the retail stores, markets, farm gate, and so on under a central sector scheme — ‘Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at Countrywide Level’ — and analysed for pesticide residues.

From the investigation of a complete of 1,seventy two,437 samples of a variety of food commodities throughout April 2014 to March 2021, residues were being found exceeding over MRLs in 4,680 (two.seven per cent) samples. Reviews of these types of situations were being shared with anxious Condition governments to take proper lawful and corrective actions as per the provisions of the Pesticides Act 1968, he said.