Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil who was in Pune to attend a meeting of top level officials to chalk out the strategies for the ensuing Kharif season, told mediapersons that the State government aimed to bring down the use of chemical fertilisers by at least 50 per cent in the next five years.

More than 24 lakh metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser are used during the Kharif season while another 10-12 lakh metric tonnes are used during the Rabi season. The government which recently introduced about four lakh packs of biofertilisers on subsidy met with a tremendous response, Vikhe Patil said.

The government plans to approach the Central Government demanding amendment in the Fertiliser Control Order in order topromote the use of biofertilisers since many of the fertiliser companies are believed to be totally opposed to this concept. The State government also plans to hold a meeting with all major fertiliser companies to discuss the possibilities of making forays into the production of biofertilisers. Should the proposed amendment of the Fertiliser Control Order come through, chemical fertiliser companies will then be obliged to set up a unit for production of biofertilisers within their premises accounting for a certain percentage of their production, the minister revealed. The Central Government is presently offering a subsidy of Rs 20 lakh to companies for setting up biofertiliser units. Rashtriya Chemical Fertilisers (RCF) Ltd has already taken the initiative and started a biofertiliser unit. The idea is to promote the production of biofertilisers as a cottage industry, making it cost effective for the farmer to produce it himself, the agriculture commissioner Sudhir Kumar Goel stated, admitting to an inadequacyin the availability of organic fertilisers thereby necessitating the need for these measures.