Multiple choice

Recent trends in agricultural productivity have shown a decline in marginal productivity of soil in relation to the application of fertilizers. What is the most important reason behind this?

  1. Less than optimal application of chemical fertilizers by farmers in India

  2. Skewed application of fertilizers with bias in favour of nitrogenous fertilizers

  3. Declining domestic production of straight fertilizers like Urea and DAP

  4. Inadequate credit facilities to the farmer for buying high quality farm inputs
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Three of the most important types of fertilizers in India are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK). For India, the standard ratio of application of NPK fertilizers has been estimated to be 4 : 2 : 1, but the fertilizer application is generally seen to be biased in favour of nitrogenous fertilizers. The bias reached its peak in 1996-1997 when the ratio was 10 : 3 : 1. According to latest recorded figures, the ratio of application of NPK fertilizers is 5.5 : 2 : 1.

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