As per FAO, the birth of "modern" Indian fertilizer industry dates back to 1906 when first fertilizer factory opened at Ranipet, Tamil Nadu. The green revolution gave a boost to make the "infertility" fertile, making the soil completely sterile. As we " humans " noticed this when it impacted ourselves, not the soil, adversely. This led to the birth of terms like Organic and Natural, allowing them to play the dirty games like high prices, false advertising claims, etc.

Had we grown nothing without chemical fertilizers before this? Just think! Whereas the historical facts also tell us that even during the Harrapan Civilisation, we had large granaries. Our ancestors used grains for charity and they even save grains for emergency like situations. Then what happened after colonization that our production got reduced and we desperately started using these "modern" fertilizers?

Let me illustrate how we are used to making blunders while making decisions. The Sharbati Wheat variety is cultivated in 40,390 hectares (Area of India: 329 million hectares) (source- sherore.nic.in) of land mostly in one district of Madhya Pradesh. But it is available easily in various markets in most of the states and even exported to other countries. How?

Similarly, the availability of organic or natural products is in iota but are claimed to be present everywhere by many.

Three fronts need to be open to counter this escamotage.

1. The Farmer Community: Awareness of hazards of chemical fertilizers and benefits of using the inputs produced/generated in farm itself needs to be generated. This will help them not only to save out of pocket expenditure but also to lift their overall living standards.

2. The Business Community: By asking producers/suppliers the origin and technical aspects as mere certification by authorities is not enough. This will strengthen the going concern nature of business by building long term trust with customer satisfaction.

3. The Consumer Community: The ultimate impact bearers can ask the business community about the origin and manufacturing process used to make their choices for better. It will help in the "Eat Right" mission vis-a-vis nation building.

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