Vadodara

State-run Gujarat State Fertilisers Company (GSFC) today said it has raised the production of neem-coated urea to full capacity of two lakh tonne to meet the requirements of farmers in the state.

“We recently started the production of neem-coated urea after securing the approval of the central government for increasing its production to 100 per cent from the earlier 35 per cent, which was not enough to meet the demands of farmers,” GSFC CMD Sudeep Kumar Nanda said.

As per a notification issued by the Centre in 2008, a company could produce and sell neem-coated urea equivalent to the maximum of 35 per cent of its total installed capacity.

“I had raised the matter with the government requesting it to remove the 35 per cent cap,” Nanda said, adding that “the Centre’s move to increase the production of neem-coated urea will prevent its misuse by industrial units that need nitrogen and ammonia for their manufacturing requirements”.

“GSFC, in collaboration with agricultural universities in Gujarat, has been regularly conducting front-line demonstrations at farmers’ fields and results show that farm yields have increased depending upon crop and location,” he said.

By increasing the utility factor of Nitrogen (through neem-coated urea), the consumption of urea can be reduced, Nanda said.

“The neem-coated urea technology is purely an in-house development of GSFC team and that too at a nominal capital cost,” he said.

It prevents the misuse of urea for industrial purpose down the line as neem-coated urea creates foam and odour.

Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar recently said that urea sold in the country will be completely neem coated, a move which could save about Rs 10,000 crore by lowering the usage and stopping its divergence for industrial purposes.

“On May 25 this year, I took a decision for 100 per cent mandatory neem coating of urea as it will stop its divergence for industrial use and in record time of 166 days we have achieved this,” the minister had said.

PTI