One Nation, One Fertiliser

The Indian government has been striving to strengthen the Indian farming system. Owing to this, the government has been launching concrete and innovative measures.

On 17th Oct’ 22, the prime minister has launched two new initiatives for farmers. The first one is known as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhhi Kendra (PMKSK) and the second one is the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana, which has ‘One Nation, One Fertilisation’ slogan. Let’s find out more about this scheme in this post.

What is Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendra (PMKSK) Scheme?

The prime minister commenced the 600 PM Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PMKSK) that will operate as a one-of-a-kind ‘modern fertiliser retail shops’ for all the farmers who can purchase products and access services relevant to the sector of agriculture. The centre is intending to convert more than 3.3 lakh fertiliser retail shops in the nation into PMKSK gradually. Apart from this, new outlets will get opened across the country soon. This PMKSK is going to supply agri-inputs, such as farm, fertilisers, and seeds implements. It will also offer testing facilities for fertilisers, seeds and soil.

What is Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Priyojana?

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Priyojana - One Nation One Fertiliser. Under this scheme, the government has made it mandatory for organisations to Market every subsidised fertiliser under one single brand - Bharat. The scheme was launched during their two-day even PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022. The intention behind this scheme is to avert criss-cross manoeuvre of fertilisers and decrease high freight subsidy.

All of the subsidised soil nutrients, such as NPK, Muriate of Potash (MoP), Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Urea will get marketed under this brand across the country. The foundation here is that fertilisers from a specific category should meet all the nutrient-content specifications as outlined by the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO). Also, there can be no differentiation among varying brands for every type of fertiliser. For instance, the nutrient content should be same in DAP, regardless of whether it is produced by a single firm or any other. This way, the notion of One Nation, One Fertiliser will assist farmers in conquering the confusion pertaining to brand-specific choices.

While addressing this lunch, PM Modi said that the government is giving importance to drip irrigation and use of sprinklers to conserve water and maintain soil health.

PM Modi shared that we have also given utter importance to natural farming which has led to a multi-fold increase in production. This will boost the production of agri-products and address all crop-related problems. India will soon emerge as a hub for efficient production of agri-products globally.

On the same day the Government also released ₹16,000 crore into the Bank accounts of more than 85 million farmers across the country, in the 12th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. The initiative provides farmers up to ₹6,000 a year as minimum Income support. The scheme was announced during the interim budget of 2019.

Highlights about One Nation One Fertiliser scheme

• Urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP), and NPK - will be marketed under the single brand Bharat across the nation

• India will have a common bag design across the country like Bharat urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat MOP, Bharat NPK, and so on

• So the concept of have one fertiliser will help farmers overcome their confusion over brand-specific choices, as all DAP fertilizer brands must have 18% nitrogen and 46% phosphorus

• The 'One Nation One Fertiliser' scheme will prevent the criss-cross movement of fertilisers and reduce high freight subsidies

Additional Facilities for Small-Scale Farmers

Kendra is going to provide small-scale farmers knowledge about crop literature, messages from government and data on the stock situation of fertilisers, soil fertility maps, subsidies, marked retail prices and more. At the Tehsil level, the centre is Offering a help desk to support new-age fertilisers and government schemes, a common service centre, a crop advisory, soil testing Facility, tele-communication and consultation with experts, sample collection unit for pesticide and seed testing, custom hiring facility for dusters, drones and sprayers along with information on mandi wholesale prices as well as weather conditions.

At the district level, the center will provide all these facilities and features at a large scale by displaying the entire Range of products, enlarged seating capacity, a common service centre, testing facilities for pesticides, water, seeds, and soil. During the entire event, the PM launched ‘Indian Edge’, which is an e-magazine providing information on fertilisers. Along with that, this online source of information also outlines international and national fertiliser scenarios, such as consumption, availability, price trend analysis, latest developments, and more.

The Plan to Provide Training

With an intention to empower retailers with adequate information, the centre will provide training to retailers, which will be conduced after every six months. Agriculture experts and agricultural scientists will participate in the topics for training, which could be:

• A proper use of fertilisers
• Benefits and application of organic fertilisers
• New-age fertilisers
• Bio-fertilisers And more.

Wrapping Up

All this while, India has managed to accomplish substantial milestones in the agricultural productivity and production to make sure nutrition and food security is provided to a huge population. The amazing success of achieving self-reliance is supported by the on-time supply of qualitative agricultural products. Overall, the intention of both the initiatives is to maximize the production of farming by making sure fertilisers and other agri services are available easily to farmers at inexpensive prices.