Nano urea

Nano-urea, a product developed by the Indian Farmers and Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) and heavily advertised by government as panacea to reduce farmer dependence on packaged urea is yet to be fully tested despite having been fast tracked for commercial application.

• Normally, three seasons of independent assessment by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is required for approving a new fertiliser, but in the case of nano urea this was reduced to two.
• Moreover scientists are still unclear if the product can on its own cut farmers’ dependence on urea.

Nano Urea:

• Nano Urea is a nanotechnology based revolutionary Agri-input which provides nitrogen to plants.
• Nano Urea is a sustainable option for farmers towards smart agriculture and combat climate change. 
• Nano urea is a patented and indigenously made liquid that contains nanoparticles of urea, the most crucial chemical fertiliser for farmers in India.
• A single half-litre bottle of the liquid can compensate for a 45kg sack of urea that farmers traditionally rely on, it is claimed.
• Nano urea (Liquid) contains 4 % nanoscale nitrogen particles. Nanoscale nitrogen particles have a small size (20-50 nm); more surface area and number of particles per unit area than conventional urea.

Benefits of Nano urea:

• IFFCO claims that nano urea is a sustainable solution for nutrition of crops.
• It will encourage balanced soil nutrition by cutting off the excessive use of traditional urea and making plants healthier, stronger, and safeguarding them from the effect of lodging.
• Nano urea is a great alternative to traditional urea.
• It can cut down urea requirement by a whopping 50%.
• A 500 ml bottle of nano urea features 40,000 ppm (parts per million) of Nitrogen.
• This is equivalent to the nitrogen provided by one whole bag of traditional urea.
• This new urea comes packed in bottle.
• This will cut down logistics and warehousing cost
• Nano urea promises to decrease pollution of soil, water, and air, at the same time, address the issue of global warming.
• The efficacy test conducted by IFFCO revealed an average 8% increase in yield of crops.