The Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM) plans to spend about Rs 50 crore over five years building a supply chain for biofertilisers and biopesticides, from microbe collection to factory-scale production. The mission signed a memorandum of understanding with Anand Agricultural University (AAU) in Bhavnagar on Friday, October 9, with Science and Technology Minister Arjun Modhwadia and Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani present, DeshGujarat and ANI reported.
The state links the plan to the West Asia crisis, which has unsettled energy markets and shipping routes. Nitrogen fertilisers depend on natural gas, and phosphate and potash come from mineral deposits concentrated in a few countries. A state that grows cotton, groundnut, wheat and cumin at scale feels any shock to those supply lines in the price and availability of urea and DAP at the cooperative counter.
Where the Rs 50 crore goes
According to the government’s background note, carried by both outlets, the plan has four parts:
- A strain bank and pilot plant at AAU. Targets include conserving more than 5,000 native microbial strains, sequencing over 500, building a digital Gujarat Bio-Strain Database and developing at least 10 new formulations.
- Rs 13 crore for manufacturers. Support for startups, MSMEs, cooperatives, NGOs and farmer producer organisations that want to make biological inputs.
- Rs 9 crore for field trials. Testing products across Gujarat’s agro-climatic zones and running farmer demonstrations through the agricultural universities.
- Cooperative-scale factories. Automated fermentation, formulation and packaging through partners named as AMUL, Banas Dairy, SUMUL and KRIBHCO.
The two itemised grants add up to Rs 22 crore. The announcement does not say how the remaining Rs 28 crore splits between the AAU facility and the cooperative plants.
AAU’s head start
Anand Agricultural University already sells biofertilisers based on Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Rhizobium and phosphate- and potassium-solubilising bacteria, including its Bio-NP and Bio-NPK consortia. The university says it sold about 42 lakh litres up to 2024-25, enough for roughly 42 lakh hectares, and holds more than 1,000 microbial cultures. It has deposited DNA sequences for 148 strains with the US National Center for Biotechnology Information. The new plan scales that collection up fivefold and tries to move production beyond one campus.
What it means for farmers
The government itself describes biologicals as a complement to chemical fertiliser, and farmers should read the plan that way. A Rhizobium culture can help a groundnut or pulse crop fix nitrogen and cut the urea it needs. It will not stand in for a full dose of DAP on a cotton field. The gains depend on live, well-stored product, applied at the right time.
That is where the dairy cooperatives matter. AMUL, Banas and SUMUL already run collection and input networks that reach lakhs of member households in central, north and south Gujarat. If they make and distribute these products through the same village societies, a farmer could buy a tested biofertiliser where they already sell milk or buy cattle feed. KRIBHCO, a fertiliser cooperative, brings an existing dealer network.
The money is modest. Rs 50 crore over five years works out to about Rs 10 crore a year for a state with millions of farm holdings. It works as seed funding for manufacturers. Judge it by whether private firms and cooperatives put their own money in on top.
What to watch
- Timelines for the AAU strain bank and pilot facility, and when the first new formulations reach field trials.
- Guidelines for the Rs 13 crore manufacturing support: who qualifies and how to apply.
- Whether the cooperatives announce plant locations and capacities, and whether biologicals appear alongside chemical fertiliser at their outlets before the next kharif season.
Sources: DeshGujarat, ANI via Asianet Newsable, IANS via Punjab Kesari
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.