Two days after he requested chief ministers of states to right away cease compelled sale of nano-fertilisers and biostimulants to farmers, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Tuesday mentioned the federal government is not going to enable the sale of biostimulants with out scientific nod.
He directed the officers of his ministry to place in place “clear guidelines and SOPs (commonplace working procedures)” for the sale of biostimulants.
Chairing a gathering, Chouhan mentioned that farmers raised quite a few complaints in regards to the sale of pretend fertilisers, seeds, biostimulants, and nano urea throughout his visits to villages as a part of lately concluded 15-day ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, the place he held direct interactions with them.
Chouhan questioned why biostimulants, regardless of repeated renewals and years of gross sales, have been nonetheless out there even after a number of complaints said that they have been ineffective.
“Now, solely these biostimulants that meet all the factors and are confirmed helpful to farmers will likely be authorised. Approvals will now be based mostly solely on scientific validation, and the accountability for it will relaxation solely with the involved officers,” he mentioned, in keeping with an official assertion.
Many firms began promoting biostimulants with none guidelines, however the authorities is not going to let this occur at any value, he mentioned, including that the federal government will take motion towards suspicious producers of biostimulants.
“It’s essential to evaluation biostimulants totally to see how a lot profit the farmers are getting from it; if not, then permission to promote it can’t be given,” Chouhan mentioned.
Story continues under this advert
He additionally emphasised the necessity for the Indian Council of Agricultural Analysis (ICAR) to guage biostimulants.
Chouhan instructed the officers to place in place clear guidelines and SOPs, and mentioned that irregularities will not be tolerated.
Biostimulants are substances or microorganisms (corresponding to helpful micro organism, fungi, or plant extracts) that, when utilized to seeds, vegetation, or soil, stimulate pure plant processes.
The minister identified that for a number of years, round 30,000 biostimulant merchandise have been being offered unchecked, and even within the final 4 years, round 8,000 merchandise remained in circulation. “After I enforced stricter checks, the quantity has now come all the way down to round 650,” he mentioned.
Story continues under this advert
It’s learnt that the assembly was known as impromptu and no discover was given to officers. The assembly was attended by the officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the ICAR.
The biostimulants market in India was valued at roughly USD 355–362 million in 2024 and is projected to achieve between USD 1.13 billion and USD 1.2 billion by 2032.
On July 13, Chouhan had requested the state governments to right away cease the “compelled tagging” of nano-fertilisers or biostimulants together with standard fertilisers corresponding to urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP). In a letter to chief ministers, Chouhan highlighted complaints that retailers usually are not promoting subsidised standard fertilisers corresponding to urea, DAP, and many others. to farmers except they buy nano-fertilisers or biostimulants.