Raghav JhunjhunwalaAIR 4 · CSE 2025 · 236 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening
With recent technological developments & govt support like NanoTech mission nanotech has emerged as critical tool in Agri productivity & food security.
Body · points and prose
Role in Agri Prod. & Food sec. :
(1) Poor Productivity of India → Despite higher arable land,
(2) Due to small land size 1.08 ha (avg); mechanization is difficult & scalability issues occur.
(3) Using Nano fertilizers (like Nano/Bottled Urea); yield can be substantially improved as it has better absorption than conventional urea.
(4) It is also cheaper and requires less quantity → Rationalized Fertilizer use
- more cost savings
- Productivity boost @ Long Run
(5) Climate Change threats can be better tackled:
Precision Agri ↓
Envt. Sustainable → more savings & farm debt ↓ → Agri Diversification → Subsidy Bill ↓ Cap Ex ↑ → soil Health & Food security
Recent Development: Nano/Bottled urea by IFFCO
PROS: (1) Easier transport, storage & application (2) Soil health improvement; NPK current fertilizer use 13:3:1, Ideal 4:2:1 (3) Subsidy burden ↓; less leakages (4) Promotion of Agri R&D, etc
CONS: (1) Bioaccumulation, Biomagnification threats (2) Nanotoxicity via runoff into nearby streams (3) lack of awareness, hesitancy (4) Poor Agri Extension network & ltd. institutional reach
Way Ahead
- Regulatory strengthening
- Cross country collab (Eg Israel is global leader)
- Stakeholder based policy making
- Precautionary Principle
Close · a way forward
Time to implement Richard Feynman's quote seems ripe: "There is so much potential at the molecular level."