What Is The PM PRANAM Scheme? Does It Reduce The Use Of Chemical Fertilizers?

The Center is all set to launch the PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana or PM PRANAM scheme which will incentivize the state. The aim is to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers. 

The scheme will aid the government in minimizing its subsidy burden on chemical fertilizers. The subsidy burden was expected to rise 39 percent from Rs 1.62 lakh crore last year to Rs. 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-2023.

The PM PRANAM Scheme

While on the one hand a sharp increase in the overall fertilizer use is seen in the last five years, the government of India aims to launch the PM PRANAM scheme that will pass on 50 percent of subsidy savings as a grant to the state that saves the money.

Out of this, the state is required to use 70 percent on creating assets leading to technological adoption of alternate fertilizers as well as alternate fertilizer production units at district levels, villages, and blocks.

Next, the state can make use of the remaining 30 percent to encourage and reward panchayats, self-help groups, farmer producer organizations, and farmers, while also generating awareness and insisting on reduced use of fertilizers.

The government aims to draw a comparison between the state’s rise or decline in the use of chemical fertilizers in a year to its average usage in the past three years. The iFMS, the fertilizer ministry dashboard will be used by the government to make this comparison.

Interestingly, there will be no separate budget for the PM PRANAM scheme. The schemes will be funded via the “savings of existing fertilizer subsidy” offered by the department of fertilizers under various schemes.

The Need For PM PRANAM Scheme

The last five years have seen an increase of 21 percent in the requirement for four fertilizers, namely, Urea, DAP (Di- ammonium Phosphate), MOP (Muriate of potash), and the NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium), from 528.86 lakh metric tonnes in 2017-18 to 640.27 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in 2021-22, as per the information by Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Lok Sabha on August 5.

The DAP (Di- ammonium Phosphate) had recorded a great rise of 25.44 percent from 98.77 LMT in the years 2017-18 to 123.9 LMT in the year 2021-22. In India, the most used chemical fertilizer is urea. The urea has seen an increase from 298 LMT in 2017-18 to 356.53 in 2021-22, which marks an increase of 25.44 percent.

Clearly, the government of India plans to promote the balanced use of fertilizers or the use of alternative fertilizers through the PM PRANAM scheme. The government plans to offer subsidies to mitigate the high prices of fertilizers that grew even higher in the wake of the rise in global prices of fertilizers. The finance ministry, in May, declared an additional fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the present year.

“Despite rising fertilizer prices globally, we have protected our farmers from such price hikes. In addition to the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in the budget, an additional amount of Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being provided to further cushion our farmers," Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, stated.

As per the official records, the government of India has allocated the fertilizer subsidy in the Union Budget 2021-22 for Rs 79,530 crore. The move increased to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the revised estimates (RE). The final figure was around Rs 1.62 lakh crore in the year 2021-22.

The government of India has a budget of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in the years 2022-23. However, as per the fertilizer minister, the subsidy figure could cross Rs 2.25 lakh crore the year.

 PM PRANAM Scheme- The Current Status

After the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers mooted the concept of the PM-PRANAM scheme, the top officials discussed the details of the same with the state government officials as part of the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign on 7th September. The ministry has already initiated inter-ministerial discussions on the proposed scheme. Once the views of the concert department are incorporated, the draft of the PM PRANAM scheme will be finalized.