Status and prospects of fertiliser consumption in South India

Abstract

Indian agriculture has witnessed a remarkable growth in the post ‘Green Revolution’ era. The use of fertilisers contributed 50% or more in total food grains production. However, due to inadequate and imbalance use of fertilizers, the inconsistent trend in food grains production is being noticed after 1990–91. Southern India comprising Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands covers 19.6, 17.9 and 15.8% of the total geographical area, gross cropped and irrigated area of the country, respectively. Rice, cotton, maize, groundnut and pulses grown in southern zone are known as resource exhaustive crops. A consistent increase in the use of plant nutrients NPK, K being much faster, in all the states consisting south zone of the country has been observed during 1997–98 to 2007–08. Since, the recommended dose of fertiliser is only being used at research stations; they are harvesting much higher yield compared to average productivity of the states. This yield gap is because of inadequate and imbalanced use of fertilizers. Besides, the data indicates the continuous reduction in production of compost and green manure area. Considering the rise in gross cropped area during 1986–2006 and average growth rate of fertiliser nutrients from 2006–2008 as well as per unit use of fertilisers over the years, the total requirement of N, P2O5 and K2O in southern India has been estimated to be 5205.0, 3879.8 and 3603.7 thousand tonnes for the years 2015. Declining fertiliser use efficiency, low fertiliser production, meager capital resources with resource poor farmers, lack of awareness of the farmers settled in remote area and government policy are the major constraints creating obstacles in speedy growth of fertiliser consumption in southern states and ultimately the crop yield. Therefore, to match food grains production with growing population, it is felt almost essential to use enhanced doses of fertilisers and other inputs for sustaining the crop productivity in country.