The Hindu : National : Subsidy policy to blame for excessive fertilizer use: Greenpeace

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Subsidy policy to blame for excessive fertilizer use: Greenpeace

K. Balchand

NEW DELHI: Greenpeace India and the Institute of Agriculture, Visva Bharathi University, West Bengal, have demanded that the government look into an alternative subsidy system that will promote ecological farming.

In their joint report, released on the eve of the general budget, the two organisations said the subsidy policy was irrational and it caused excessive use of synthetic fertilizers, resulting in soil degradation, which was considered a major reason for yield stagnation.

Greenpeace India’s Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner Gopikrishna said the potential for a shift from synthetic to organic nitrogen fertilizers was real and India could save money substantially if it made the transition.

According to the report, the average crop response to fertilizer use got reduced from around 25 kg of grain per kg of fertilizer in the 1960s to 8 kg in the late 1990s. The high use of chemical fertilizers was also associated with high water consumption and increased micronutrient deficiency in soil.

This led to a decline in the water table and further deterioration of soil.

The report claimed that synthetic nitrogen fertilizers contributed to 6 per cent of India’s total greenhouse gas emissions and a shift to efficient ecological fertilizers would reduce this amount to 2 per cent.

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