New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday virtually flagged off a truck containing IFFCO's nano urea to farmers in Madhya Pradesh.

On May 31, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) introduced the world's first 'Nano Urea' in liquid form and production of which commenced from June.

It is a patented technology of IFFCO developed at its Nano Biotechnology Research Center, Gujarat. IFFCO has priced nano urea liquid at Rs 240 per bottle, which is 10 per cent cheaper than the cost of a bag of conventional urea.

In a statement, IFFCO said the truck containing 75 tonnes of equivalent urea was dispatched to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh from its Kalol plant in Gujarat.

“I am happy to learn that IFFCO has developed this innovative product adhering to 'Make in India' process. It will not only help increase the income of farmers but will also help reduce use of chemical fertilizers which in turn will help improve our environment and the planet,” Tomar said after flagging off the dispatch to Madhya Pradesh.

IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi said one half litre of nano urea bottle gives equal or better impact when compared to a bag of urea from the effectiveness perspective on crops.

"Because of its small size it is very convenient to be used by farmers in difficult terrains,” he said.

Awasthi further said that the nano urea production plants are also coming up in Brazil, Argentina and a few more countries as part of the International Cooperative Alliance.

IFFCO had earlier dispatched Nano Urea shipments to Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The stocks were sold within half an hour.

IFFCO is already in the process of construction of its plants at its Kalol unit in Gujarat and also at Aonla and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh in Phase- I by year 2021-22.

The total annual production capacity would be initially 14 crore bottles of 500 ml, which will further be raised to 18 crore, the statement added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)