Highlights of the Recommendations of Inter Ministrial Task Force On ...

Issue
(a) The National Agriculture Policy envisages annual growth of 4%
in agricultural production
(b) The Country would need 30/ M mt of food grain by 2025 to
feed 1.4 billion population. This would required 35 M mt of
chemical fertilizer nutrient basis, as against 19.4 M mt at
present.
(c) Continuous use of high analysis chemical fertilizer over the
years and neglect of organic manures have resulted into large
scale deficiency of not only major but also secondary and micro
plant & nutrients (such as S, Mm, Fe,Zn &B) .
Swaminathan(1992) has summed up the nutrient supply options
relevant to Indian conditions. According to him “Soil of India are
often not only thirsty but also hungry” .Inputs are needed for
output. Therefore , what we need is a reduction in the use of
market purchased chemical input and not of input per se. It is in
this context that integrated system of nutrient supply suitable for
easy adoption include crop rotations, green manure and biofertilizers,
bi-dynamic systems that makes significant use of
Compost & humus will help to improve soil structure & fertility.
Points to Ponder
In India where the land –person ratio is rapidly declining , the
only means of meeting the need of agriculture produce is through
increased productivity without detrimental to environment &
sustainability. The per capita land availability in the country has
decreased from 0.48 ha in 1951 to 0.17 ha in 1985 is projected to
be further reduced to 0.10 ha by the year 2005. In successful
management of soil quality , fertility & productivity, following
related aspects need further consideration:-
1. Optimum and balanced utilization of all plant nutrient sources
through Integrated nutrient management.
2. Application of nutrient & keeping in view the cropping system ,
genotype & characteristic of plants.
3. System-approach-keeping in view the lithosphere,
hydrosphere and atmosphere into consideration.
12/16/2009
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