BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State has the distinction of achieving self-sufficiency in food production, it is far below the national average in terms of consumption of chemical fertiliser. While the national average of fertiliser consumption is 116.5 kg per hectare in a year, the consumption in the State is 46 kg. The use of inorganic manure for kharif crops is less than that for rabi crops. According to the Agriculture Department, the average fertiliser consumption during kharif is 44 kg per hectare while for rabi crops the average use is about 53 kg. The consumption of fertiliser is poor despite the fact the Government accorded industry status to agriculture in 1996 and formulated a new agriculture policy in 2008 providing many incentives to the farmers to encourage use of chemical fertilisers. The fertiliser consumption increased to 53 kg per hectare in 2007-08. However, it declined to 46 kg per hectare in 2010-11. Ideally, the use of fertilisers should have been more than 100 kg per hectare. The poor consumption of fertiliser in the State is attributed to poor economic condition of the farmers and lack of assured irrigation. While farmers are committing suicide due to crop failure and increasing loan burden, many do not prefer to use fertilisers in rain-fed areas. Out of a total cultivable area of over 61 lakh hectares, crops are grown only on 24 lakh hectares during rabi. Assured irrigation is available in about 27 lakh hectares during kharif and 13 lakh hectares in rabi. In the absence of assured irrigation, use of chemical fertiliser is a costly proposition, said an agro-meteorologist. According to studies, the undivided districts of Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Ganjam and Sambalpur consume about 75 per cent of the total fertiliser use where 36 per cent of the gross cropped area has assured irrigation. The consumption of fertiliser is only 25 per cent in other eight undivided districts where 20 per cent of the gross cropped area is irrigated. Apart from irrigation there are many other factors for low use of fertilisers. According to a soil scientist, farmers do not take risk due to low soil fertility and low moisture retention capabilities. Though one may be sure of increasing productivity, there is no assurance on profitability due to poor marketing infrastructure and distress sale. The other reason for low consumption of fertilisers is its non-availability when these are most required. With kharif operation in full swing across the State, farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilisers. It will be more acute in the current month as the allocation from the Centre is much less than the projected demand.
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