Why does the Government of India promote the use of Neem coated Urea rsquo in agriculture ........

Geography Agriculture

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Why does the Government of India promote the use of Neem-coated Urea’ in agriculture?

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UPSC CSP Previous Year Paper (2016)

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Release of Neem oil in the soil increases nitrogen fixation by the soil microorganisms

Neem coating slows down the rate of dissolution of urea in the soil

Nitrous oxide, which is a greenhouse gas, is not at all released into atmosphere by crop fields

It is a combination of a weedicide and a fertilizer for particular crops

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Explanation:

When ordinary urea is applied, it gets converted to ammonium carbamate. Some of this gets converted to ammonia gas in what is called ammonia volatilisation. About 8-10 per cent nitrogen is lost during volatilisation. Neem has properties that check nitrogen loss at each stage. It slows down the process of nitrate formation and hence excess nitrate is not available for denitrification.

Neem coating also prevents Urea from being diverted to non-agricultural purposes.