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New Delhi: Driven by huge government subsidy, indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides by the farmers since 1960s have degraded the natural resource base of agricultural land in the country, a scientific report by Greenpeace on Wednesday said.
The report titled ‘Subsidising Food Crisis’ jointly prepared by scientists from Greenpeace and Institute of Agriculture Visva Bharathy University, West Bengal, has said farmers are using higher doses of nitrogen to replace other nutrients, since synthentic nitrogen is relatively cheaper due to the government subsidies.
According to the report, the amount of subsidy outgo on synthetic fertilisers (domestic and imported) during last three decades has grown from mere Rs 60 crore during 1976-77 to Rs 40,338 crore during 2007-08.
“Moving away from current government subsidies on synthetic fertiliser that lead to poor soils and less food production and investing in ecological farming will have triple benefits: save public money, ensure food security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the report which offers a scientific analysis linking the increasing fertiliser subsidies to yield stagnation in agriculture, said.
“The potential for a shift from synthetic to organic nitrogen fertilisers is real and the country can save a substantial amount of taxpayers’ money,” Gopikrishna, sustainable agriculture campaigner, Greenpeace India said.
The report also points out in Punjab, the state with highest use of synthetic fertilisers in the country, data on the relationship between foodgrain production and fertiliser consumption from 1960 to 2003 show that in spite of consistent increment in fertiliser consumption, grain yield has not only stagnated but also showed a declining trend with fertiliser application during the later period, 1992 to 2003.
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