Hyderabad, March 22 A new policy that seeks to promote the usage of water-soluble fertilisers is being formulated by the Union Department of Fertilisers (DoF).

“At the moment there is no coverage for the water-soluble fertilisers under the concession scheme being administered by the Government. Further, there are high customs duties on the import of certain water-soluble fertilisers, which pushes up the cost. “Due to this they are not accessible to the average farmers and that is why DoF is looking at a new policy,” a Government official told Business Line.

Fertilisers such as calcium nitrate and mono-potassium phosphates, though part of the 11 water-soluble complex fertilisers under the Fertiliser Control Order (FCO) issued by the Government, are treated as chemicals for the purpose of customs duty and a duty of 37.62 per cent is charged on these imports.

“As per the proposals, DoF is considering inclusion of water-soluble fertilisers in the concession scheme for potassium and phosphate fertilisers and also rationalisation of the import duty regime. Further we are also looking at inclusion of these fertilisers under the FCO,” he said.

The proposals also include a regulatory mechanism with respect to the import, production and marketing of water-soluble fertilisers. They want the various State Governments and fertiliser companies to take a proactive role in encouraging the usage of such 100 per cent soluble fertilisers.

Fertiliser market. As per Government estimates 100 per cent water-soluble fertilisers in the country are used by only a small segment of farmers, that too for floriculture and horticulture crops such as grapes, pomegranates, mangos and bananas. The domestic market size of such fertilisers is around 27,000 tonnes and is likely to touch 55,000 tonnes.  In the global market, water-soluble fertiliser constitute nearly 4 per cent of the total world fertiliser market at around 50 lakh tonnes and is increasing at the rate of 6-7 per cent every year.

“There are many advantages of water-soluble fertilisers. They are suitable for micro-irrigation, and ensure a balanced supply of nutrients. Also they are absorbed better by plants as they are applied (as fully soluble in water increases uptake by plants), hence better productivity without soil degradation,” the official said.