FERTILISER CONSUMPTION AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN KERALA

Among the various inputs to increase crop productivity fertiliser plays a prominent role. Analysis have shown that the initial enthusiasm in the consumption of plant nutrients in India has faded out. The annual compound growth rate of fertiliser consumption has shown a steady decline from 1960 to 1986. In Kerala, however, after a set— back in the seventies the situation has improved during the eighties, with the growth rates being higher than the national average. In the State the increase in fertiliser consumption is more due to intensive agriculture rather than due to an increase in cultivated area. Regarding the type of fertiliser materials consumed, there is approximately an annual loss of Rs. 10 lakhs by way of use of complexes and mixtures instead of straight fertilisers. The studi points out to the need for a micro level analysis of the various aspects of fertiliser use in the State