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Excessive use of fertilizers adding to global warming: IIM-A study




A study of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A ) warns that Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions from excessive use of fertilizers
by farmers in the country is significantly adding to global warming. The study suggests that better planning could increase the national food
grain production without further increasing the emission.

The study, published in international journal 'Climatic Change' in May 2011, said that average annual emission of N2O of a district in
the country has increased from 305 tons in 1990 to 450 tons in 2005. One of the prime reasons for this alarming rise is increase in
the use of fertilizers. The gradual transition from traditional to modern agriculture over the past two decades has spiked the use of fertilizers.

"Use of fertilizers in agricultural farms beyond a limit does not increase the amount of yield. Instead, it increases the amount of N2O emissions,
" said faculty of IIM-A Amit Garg who conducted the study along with IIM-A professor P R Shukla and research associate at the institute Jigeesha Upadhyay.

"The global warming potential of N2O is 310 times more potent than Carbon dioxide (CO2)," said Garg. Garg pointed out that from 2005 to 2009,
the total use of fertilizers in Punjab has increased by 10 percent while food grain production grew only by around 3 percent. In contrast,
Bihar recorded a rise in food grain production proportional to the use of fertilizers. In Bihar , use of fertilizers in the past five years
has increased by 42 percent and food grain production has increased by 40 percent .

"This shows that increase in the use of fertilizers in states like Punjab has saturated its limit while in other states like Bihar there
is still scope for using more fertilizers," said Garg.

Suggesting solutions to the issue, Garg said that farmers need to be educated about the limitations in the use of fertilizers in their farms.
He said, "The distribution of fertilizers needs to be reworked. Excessive fertilizer consumed by states like Punjab and UP could be diverted
to states like Bihar where there is still scope for use of fertilizer to increase food grain production.

This will significantly increase the contribution of agricultural sector to the national GDP without an increase in the NO2 emission.
This calls for a microscopic analysis and planning of the farm lands in the country."





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