Govt's new design for fertilizer bags carries PM Modi's appeal to farmers to reduce use of chemical crop nutrients

A farmer spreads fertilizers on his rice plants in Patra village in Punjab (Reuters file image)

The government has released a new cover design for fertilizer bags with an appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to farmers to reduce the use of chemical crop nutrients, official and industry sources said on Friday.

In August, the central government decided to implement "One Nation, One Fertilizers" by introducing a single brand for fertilizers called 'Bharat' and a logo under the fertilizer subsidy scheme "Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna" (PMBJP).

In a letter to CMDs and MDs of fertilizer companies on Friday, the Department of Fertilizers said it has been decided that the bag design should also incorporate a message from the prime minister appealing to the farmers to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.

Along with the letter, the department has shared with all the manufacturers the new design which has been finalised and approved by the chemicals and fertilisers minister, sources said.

The new design contains an image of the prime minister and his appeal underneath. The appeal in Hindi says: "I appeal to farmers to take a great move of saving the mother earth by making reduced and balanced use of chemical fertilisers." The department asked them to take appropriate action for procurement and use of bags with the new design with immediate effect.

In case of urea, the Centre fixes the maximum retail price and reimburses the difference between the maximum retail price and production cost in the form of subsidy.

Under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme, which is being implemented since April 2010, a fixed rate of subsidy (in Rs per kg basis) is announced for nutrients namely Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P), Potash (K) and Sulphur (S) by the government on an annual basis.

The subsidy rates per kg for the nutrients N, P, K, and S are converted into per tonne subsidies on the various P&K fertilisers covered under the NBS.