Dehradun, Jan. 20 -- India is an agrarian country where a large section of the population depends directly on agriculture for its livelihood. To meet the steadily increasing demand for food, the use of chemical fertilisers has continuously risen over the past several decades. In the initial years, these fertilisers undoubtedly helped boost agricultural production and ensured food availability. However, today their indiscriminate, excessive and unregulated use has created a serious crisis affecting agriculture, the environment and human health.

The magnitude of the use of chemical fertilisers in the country can be understood from the fact that, while consumption stood at around 115 crore bags in 2018-19, it crossed 150 crore bags during 2...