Neem-coated urea
Topic: Agricultural Marketing, MSP, Buffer Stocks and PDS · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Neem-coated urea is urea covered with a thin layer of neem oil. The coating makes the fertiliser release nitrogen slowly. More of it reaches the crop and less is lost, which improves nitrogen-use efficiency: how much of the applied nitrogen the plant actually takes up. The coating also makes the urea unfit for industrial use. This stops cheap, subsidised farm urea being diverted to factories.
Example
Since 2015, all urea made in or brought into India has been neem-coated (100% coverage). Farmers get more nitrogen into the crop from each bag, and the government loses less subsidy to diversion.
Don't confuse with
- Nutrient-based subsidy (NBS): NBS (April 2010) gives a fixed per-kg subsidy on the N, P, K and S content of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers. Urea is not under NBS. It is still sold at a fixed MRP set by the government.
Related concepts
- Economic cost of foodgrains
- Food subsidy
- Input subsidy
- Nutrient-based subsidy
- Direct income support
- Legal guarantee of MSP