Iffco expresses concern over slow adoption of its nano-fertilizers
Nano-technology-based fertilizers which contain plant nutrients in very small particle sizes have witnessed a lower-than-anticipated adoption, according to U.S. Awasthi, managing director, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (Iffco).
Iffco launched the world's first 'Nano Liquid Urea' fertilizer in June 2021 and came up with Nano-DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) fertilizers in April 2023.
"The adoption of nano fertilizers is lower than anticipated as compared to solid fertilizers," said Awasthi, after announcing the financial results for Iffco. the country's largest agro-fertilizer manufacturer and distributor.
He put this down to a lack of awareness of these high-efficiency fertilizers and reluctance among farmers. This is in spite of a significant increase in sales of nano-fertilizers in 2024-25 as compared with a year ago.
In the last financial year, Iffco sold 36.50 million bottles of nano-fertilizers, an increase of 47% as over the 24.89 million bottles sold in the previous financial year.
Out of 36.50 million bottles, 26.80 million were of Nano Urea Plus (Liquid) and 9.7 million of Nano DAP (Liquid). This is equivalent to 1.2 million tonnes of conventional Urea and 4.85 tonnes of conventional DAP.
Considering the total industry volume of 35.80 million tonnes of conventional urea sold last year, the contribution of nano urea is just 3.36%. In case of DAP the contribution of nano-DAP is 5.04% of the total industry volume of 9.62 million tonnes of conventional DAP last year.
"In order to increase penetration, we would increase our outreach activities and marketing campaign including social media," added Awasthi.
Meanwhile, Iffco booked profit after tax at 2,823 crore in FY25 as compared with ₹ 2,443 crore in FY24. Revenue rose to ₹ 41,244 crore in FY25 fiscal, from ₹ 39,474 crore in the previous year.
Commenting upon future plans, Awasthi added,"We will be also launching Nano NPK fertilizer in granular form. Nano NPK fertilizer is enriched with Magnesium, Sulphur, Zinc and Copper which would help in increasing the crop productivity & would minimize nutrient losses."
He further said that Iffco will be also launching Nano Zinc and Nano Copper to fulfil micro-nutrients needs of plants.
According to him, by incorporating nanotechnology, drones, and artificial intelligence, Iffco is transforming the agriculture & food value chain across the country.
Brazil, Kenya and the US have expressed strong interest to adopt the nanotechnology fertilizers, he said. Iffco has expanded its presence in over 40 countries, with reduced rtilizer usage reported from the US\, Brazil, Slovenia, Mauritius, Zambia, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
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