An Assessment of FYM Demand and Supply Potential in India

A heavenly, musk dear is in search of something. The scent, he is thriving for. He strives all his life to find the musk perfume everywhere in the forest but he didn’t know where it is. When he gets exhausted and fell from a rock. And when he is getting died, he lick his breast and finds the hidden treasure for which he wandered whole of his life, the musk in his breast.

Similar the case is with India, the hidden treasure. The advantage in farming.

For growing crops it is essential to meet its nutrition requirements then only we can achieve the level of production required to feed 1.21 B population of India and 7 B population of world. But the challenge is sustainability. The excesive use of Agrochemicals in post Green Revolution era have questioned the sustainability. The soil is eroding, soil quality is deteriorated, problematic soils area is increasing. Then how to meet the production requirements in sustainable manner. 

Enriching the soils through supplying FYM to soils can be a step towards sustainability. But we have the question of meeting the FYM requirements of big agricultural country like India.

 Here is evidence for FYM requirement and availability in India and the future of India.

Total urine(Cow + Baffalow) produced per animal per day: 10+10 = 20 litres/animal/day

Total Dung (Cow + Baffalow) produced per animal per day: 25+25 = 50 kg/animal/day

So, total Cow dung produced per animal per annum: 50 × 365 = 18250 kg = 18.25 Tonne/animal/year

Total Cattle and Buffalo population in India: 192.49+109.85 Million = 302.35 Million

Total annual cow dung production: 18.25 × 302.35 = 5517.88 Million Tonne 

Total FYM recovery (considering losses in pits and during dung to FYM conversion):Recovery rate is 60% and conversion rate is 80%

Total annual FYM that can be produced: 4138.41 Million tonne FYM per year

Net Cropped area: 141.1 m haT

Total cropped area: 192.50 m ha

FYM required or recommended for per ha of land for producing crop: 12.5 T/ha

So, total FYM required per season: 141.1 × 12.5 = 1763.75 Million tonnes per year

And total annual requirement of FYM is: 192.20 × 12.5 = 2402.5 Million tonnes 

 The above calculation is illustrating that India can produce around 4138.41 Million tonnes of FYM annually which is 1.5 times to the total annual FYM requirement of the country.

And even considering 50% losses during conversion and transportation even them we can meet the national requirement easily and can produce crop sustainably.

 Now, few questions arise:

• Why government is spending thousands of Crore of rupee in importing the high cost fertilizer and subsidising Urea, the demand can be met through NPK fertilisers and incorporating 12.5 tonne/ha FYM per year in soil.
• Government can promote the FYM production practice in households and can procure FYM which directly can be supplied to the farmers and the subsidy amount can be given to the livestock farmers.
•  If we consider that total crop area can’t be replaced at a time but FYM procurement from the livestock farmer can generate extra income for them.  
• The FYM use can be a cheaper solution for stepping towards sustainability and can ensure a good future of farming, as all are aware of the conditions in Punjab and Haryana.
• FYM can also be brought under MSP with average prices.

 You can also solve the above mysteries.

Sustainability requires the judicious use of available resources present in the region and policy making for the region should accordingly.

References: 

Illustration and calculation by Author

Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2018

Livestock census 2019

Leaching losses of nutrients from farmyard manure pits in Central India 

K. Sammi ReddyA, F. Pax C. BlameyB, Ram C. DalalC, M. MohantyA, Muneshwar SinghA, A. Subba Rao, PandeyA and Neal W. MenziesB