Identifies theoritically as well as empirically the factors which have contributed for the growth of fertilizer use in Indian agriculture and with special reference to Tamil Nadu. Contains a wealth of information relating to various studies on fertilizer economy. And also highlighted major issues of the burden of subsidy in Indian Budgets. Should be of interest to researchers and policy makers who are concerned with Indian Agriculture.
The good practice guidelines - which form the basis of an interactive policymaker's tool kit included on a CD accompanying the book - relate not only to the more focused problem of encouraging increased fertilizer use by farmers, but also to the broader challenge of creating the type of enabling environment that is needed to support the emergence of efficient, dynamic and commercially viable fertilizer marketing systems."--Jacket.
This book addresses in detail multifaceted approaches to boosting nutrient use efficiency (NUE) that are modified by plant interactions with environmental variables and combine physiological, microbial, biotechnological and agronomic aspects. Conveying an in-depth understanding of the topic will spark the development of new cultivars and strains to induce NUE, coupled with best management practices that will immensely benefit agricultural systems, safeguarding their soil, water, and air quality. Written by recognized experts in the field, the book is intended to provide students, scientists and policymakers with essential insights into holistic approaches to NUE, as well as an overview of some successful case studies. In the present understanding of agriculture, NUE represents a question of process optimization in response to the increasing fragility of our natural resources base and threats to food grain security across the globe. Further improving nutrient use efficiency is a prerequisite to reducing production costs, expanding crop acreage into non-competitive marginal lands with low nutrient resources, and preventing environmental contamination. The nutrients most commonly limiting plant growth are N, P, K, S and micronutrients like Fe, Zn, B and Mo. NUE depends on the ability to efficiently take up the nutrient from the soil, but also on transport, storage, mobilization, usage within the plant and the environment. A number of approaches can help us to understand NUE as a whole. One involves adopting best crop management practices that take into account root-induced rhizosphere processes, which play a pivotal role in controlling nutrient dynamics in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. New technologies, from basic tools like leaf color charts to sophisticated sensor-based systems and laser land leveling, can reduce the dependency on laboratory assistance and manual labor. Another approach concerns the development of crop plants through genetic manipulations that allow them to take up and assimilate nutrients more efficiently, as well as identifying processes of plant responses to nutrient deficiency stress and exploring natural genetic variation. Though only recently introduced, the ability of microbial inoculants to induce NUE is gaining in importance, as the loss, immobilization, release and availability of nutrients are mediated by soil microbial processes.
Taking off from a study of three major explicit subsidies - Food, Fertilizer and Petroleum, prepared at the behest of the Twelfth Finance Commission, this book seeks to come to grips with the entire gamut of subsidies-those that are budgeted for and those that are outside the budgets of the Centre and States. It underlines the damage done to efficiency through subsidies, which once given are rarely removed. The book warns against perpetually identifying subsidies with efforts towards poverty alleviation and castigates the classification between merit and non-merit pay outs. The underlying theme is that there should be a commercial basis for any economic activity and that every outlay must bear a commercial return. On foodgrains, the recommendations are tough: an end to public procurement operations and the mechanism of minimum support price as well as restricting the ambit of public distribution system to the poorest of the poor-the 2 crore population targetted by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. For fertilizer, the prescription is that the price should be wholly market-determined as mooted by the Expenditure Reforms Commission. On petro-goods, while LPG prices should reflect only those ruling in the global market, access to PDS kerosene should be limited to the intended beneficiaries of the Antyodaya Anna Scheme. An agenda is set for doing away with implicit subsidies through a mix of commercial pricing and a thrust on enhanced efficiency. Irrigation facilities created through public investment must earn a commercial return on par with what farmers pay for private supplies. The same rule should apply to electricity available through public utilities.
In recent times, the coalescence of different pressure has put a major strain on water supply globally. The level of water abstraction is reaching its natural limits, and this calls for a dramatic shift in water utilization concepts. This publication addresses the economic and financial issues and the methodology and procedures involved in the analysis of water recycling projects as part of a comprehensive water planning process. The issue is dealt within the wider context of water resources and covers human health, water quality, acceptability, institutional constraints, and other factors, all of which have economic implications and affect the feasibility of reuse schemes. The recycling of urban wastewater is a key link in Integrated Water Resource Management that can fulfill several different, but interrelated objectives. These are expressed as win-win propositions, delivering simultaneous benefits to farmers, cities and natural environmental systems, part of solutions to the urgent global problems of food, clean water, the safe disposal of waters and the protection of the vital aquatic ecosystems.
Background of the study area. Response to fertilizer application. Adoption and fertilizer use practices. Farmer's access to fertilizers. Determinants of fertilizer use. Fertilizer use and transition to commercial agriculture. Policy implications.
