Scientist urges farmers to use neem-coated urea

Manav Mander

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 23

Literature is an integral part of any culture and Dr RK Gupta, Senior Soil Chemist from Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) makes apt use of this medium every now and then to impart his message to the farmers. Apart from his research work, he also writes poems (in Punjabi), so that the message is imparted to the farming community in the language best understood by them.

Dr Gupta has written a poem on the use of neem-coated urea (NCU) and has been making farmers realise through his poem about the wonders of urea. He tells farmers that NCU releases nitrogen slowly, thereby providing nutrition to the crops continuously for long time. This helps the plants to absorb more nitrogen and hence leads to high yields.

“Owing to these wonders, the Government of India issued a notification in 2015 that urea, either manufactured in India or imported from other countries should be neem- coated before it reaches the farmers,” he said.

Sharing with farmers the advantages of using NCU through his poem, Dr Gupta said, “It delays the conversion of ammonia to nitrate. It helps in keeping the ammoniacal form of nitrogen for a long time and also aids in controlling the concentration of nitrate nitrogen in soil, which otherwise would have been lost due to leaching. This way nitrate nitrogen remains available in the soil for a longer time and can be utilised conveniently by the plants. In the beginning, the crop may not look as green as it should be, but then speeds up to bring lush green colour to the crop.”

The author further highlighted that due to its neem coating, it cannot be misused by milk vendors or in paint industry. He said NCU will also help in reducing the burden of subsidy of the government. Overall, the introduction of NCU has helped in lowering down its consumption for the past two- three years, he said.

Towards the end of the poem, Dr Gupta sensitised the farmers that its judicious use in agriculture has helped in reducing the cost of production by increasing the use efficiency of nitrogen, enhanced yield of crops, increased the profits of the farmers and helped in checking the pollution of ground water and environment.

Few lines from the poem 

Nim lipat urea da dekho kamaal, Chade eh nitrogen maathi-maathi chaal. Deve eh faslaa nu nirantar khuraak, Vidhave jhaad nale Kare kisaan khushaal

What is neem-coated urea

NCU is that which is coated with neem seed oil. Government is also giving subsidy for using NCU in agriculture. It delays the conversion of ammonia to nitrate. It helps in keeping the ammoniacal form of nitrogen for a long time. This way nitrogen can be utilised conveniently by the plants.