To curb use of chemical fertilizers, Govt to give nod to PM PRANAM

Source: The post is based on the article “To curb use of chemical fertilizers, Govt to give nod to PM PRANAM” published in Indian Express on 19th September 2022.

What is the News?

The Union government intends to launch a scheme — named PM PRANAM — to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers by incentivising states.

What is PM PRANAM?

PM PRANAM stands for PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana.

Aim: To reduce the use of chemical fertilizers by incentivising states.

Features of the scheme: The scheme will have no separate budget and will be financed through the savings of existing fertilizer subsidies.

– Around 50% of subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money. 

– Under this grant, 70% of the grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related to the technological adoption of alternate fertilizers and alternate fertilizer production units at village, block and district levels. 

– The remaining 30% of grant money can be used for rewarding and encouraging farmers, panchayats, farmer producer organizations and self-help groups that are involved in the reduction of fertilizer use and awareness generation.

– The government will compare the state’s increase or decrease in the use of chemical fertilizer in a year to its average consumption in the last three years. 

Why is the PM PRANAM Scheme necessary?

In the past five years, the requirement for four fertilizers — Urea, MOP (Muriate of potash), DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) and NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) — rose 21% from 528.86 lakh metric tonnes in 2017-18 to 640.27 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in 2021-22.

The most-used chemical fertilizer in India is urea, which recorded an increase of 19.64% from 298 LMT in 2017-18 to 356.53 in 2021-22.

In order to promote the balanced use of fertilizers or alternative fertilizers, the government plans to introduce the PM PRANAM scheme.