[Solved] With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements: 1. At present, the retail price of chemical fertilizers is market-driven and not administered by the Government. 2. Ammonia, which is an input of urea, is produced from natural gas. 3. Sulphur, which is a raw material for phosphoric acid fertilizer, is a by-product of oil refineries

Q54. With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements:

1. At present, the retail price of chemical fertilizers is market-driven and not administered by the Government.

2. Ammonia, which is an input of urea, is produced from natural gas.

3. Sulphur, which is a raw material for phosphoric acid fertilizer, is a by-product of oil refineries

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 and 3 only

C. 2 only

D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: B

The Union Government subsidies the urea manufacturing units.

For the cost of transportation to facilitate the availability of urea at the same maximum retail price all over the country.

Also, the Government is subsidizing fertilizers for their availability at reasonable prices for agricultural purposes. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

Urea (NH2CONH2) is produced from ammonia (NH3) and gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) at high pressure and relatively high temperature. Hence statement 2 is correct.

Sulphur is a by-product of processing natural gas and refining high-sulfur crude oils.

And Sulphur is a raw material for phosphoric acid fertilizer. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Important:

The Government of India subsidizes fertilizers to ensure that fertilizers are easily available to farmers and the county remains self-sufficient in agriculture.

The same has been achieved largely by controlling the price of fertilizer and the amount of production

For example, as per the New Urea Policy of 2015, the government fixes the market price of urea.

Also, there is a fixed subsidy component as well.

Similarly, for Phosphorus and Potassium, as per the Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme of 2010, subsidy is provided based on nutrient content per kg of fertilizer.

Fertilizer production uses 1.2% of the world’s total energy out of which 90% is used for ammonia production, which is a key ingredient in the production of nitrogen fertilizers. Ammonia can be produced from natural gas.

Sulfur is a major by-product of oil refining and gas processing.

Most crude oil grades contain some sulfur, most of which must be removed during the refining process to meet strict sulfur content limits in refined products.

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Explanation Here