Role of Optimal Fertiliser Use in Boosting Farm Income

摘要

Fertiliser use in the country has increased from 0.70 million tonnes during 1950-51 to 26.75 million tonnes in 2015-16. Despite registering a robust growth in fertiliser use, there has been an imbalance in the relative use of NPK fertilisers. The extent of imbalance in the NPK use has further aggravated in recent years with the ratio of NPK use turning to 7.23: 2.91:1. The study shows that fertiliser use has significant positive effect on productivity of paddy wheat, maize, and rapeseed and mustard crops. Optimal use of fertilisers also results in a reduction in input costs, which otherwise could have incurred due to surplus use. Thus, use of optimum level of fertilisers would contribute towards improving farm income through productivity enhancing and input cost reducing -effects.