Precision agri best to cut use of chemical fertilisers: PJTSAU VC

Hyderabad: Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) Vice-Chancellor Dr V Praveen Rao stressed on the importance of precision agriculture as one of the best practices for reducing the indiscriminate use of chemical fertiliser for crops.

He addressed the participants at the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), Southern Region, and PJTSAU jointly organised a one-day training programme on "Fertiliser policy for sustaining soil health-Role of Fertigation" here at Water technology centre, in PJTSAU campus at Rajendranagar on Thursday.

Dr Rao said that fertigation is very essential for enabling environmental friendly agriculture. For this, there is a need for a collective effort by all the stakeholders from the agriculture sciences to educate farmers to encourage the judicious use of fertilisers. He advised the students in agricultural sciences to think and formulate innovative approaches for ensuring the sustainability of the agricultural sector in the country.

Crop diversification is also essential for the optimal use of fertilisers. Fertigation is very useful in applying fertilisers as and when required for the crops during the crop development stages, added Rao.

GV Subbareddy, Vice President of Coromandel fertilisers, said the efficiency of fertiliser use has to be improved and all the stakeholders have to put efforts into educating the farmers. In view of this, fertigation is the best practice which can enhance 60 to 70 per cent of the use efficiency.

YVN Murthy, Regional Head, FAI, southern region, Chennai, spoke about the impact of the fertiliser policy on soil health- the need for a paradigm shift in policy. Dr R Jagadeeshwar, Director of Research, PJTSAU and several PG and PhD students, representatives from various companies and agricultural faculty attend the training programme.