{"id":66152,"date":"2025-10-03T10:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T05:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=66152"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T05:34:48","slug":"india-withdraws-approval-for-11-animal-based-biostimulants-over-religious-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-withdraws-approval-for-11-animal-based-biostimulants-over-religious-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"India Withdraws Approval for 11 Animal-Based Biostimulants Over Religious Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Biostimulants Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Agriculture Ministry has revoked approval for 11 biostimulants derived from animal sources such as chicken feathers, pig tissue, bovine hide, and cod scales.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These products, earlier cleared for use in crops like paddy, tomato, potato, cucumber, and chilli, were withdrawn following complaints citing \u201creligious and dietary restrictions.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Biostimulants: An Overview<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biostimulants are natural or synthetic substances that enhance plant growth, nutrient uptake, and stress tolerance, without being traditional fertilizers or pesticides.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be derived from plant extracts, microorganisms, animal by-products, or synthetic compounds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Importantly, biostimulants are distinct from pesticides or plant growth regulators, which are covered under the Insecticide Act, 1968.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Examples of Biostimulants with Uses<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Seaweed extracts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Improve root growth, enhance flowering, and increase resistance to drought and salinity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Humic &amp; fulvic acids<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Boost nutrient absorption and soil fertility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Protein hydrolysates &amp; amino acids<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Promote early plant growth, increase yield and fruit quality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Microbial inoculants (e.g., Azotobacter, Mycorrhizae)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Aid in nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, and better soil health.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Chitosan (from crustacean shells)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Enhances plant defense mechanisms against pests and diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Advantages<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve nutrient use efficiency, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses like drought, heat, or salinity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contribute to higher yields and better quality produce (size, color, taste).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote soil health and microbial activity, supporting sustainable agriculture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmentally friendly alternative compared to excessive agrochemical use.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Regulation of Biostimulants in India<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biostimulants in India are regulated under the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), 1985, formally included through a 2021 amendment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manufacturers must register products in Schedule VI with detailed data on chemistry, bio-efficacy, toxicology, and heavy metals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oversight lies with the <\/span><b>Central Biostimulant Committee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>India\u2019s Biostimulants Market<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s biostimulants market, valued at <\/span><b>US$ 355.53 million in 2024<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is projected to rise to <\/span><b>US$ 1,135.96 million by 2032<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major producers include <\/span><b>Coromandel International, Syngenta, and Godrej Agrovet<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biostimulants are typically sold in liquid form and applied to crops via spraying.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Centre Withdraws Approval for Animal-Based Biostimulants<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government has withdrawn approval for <\/span><b>11 biostimulants derived from animal-based protein hydrolysates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014made from bovine hide, chicken feathers, pig tissue, cod scales, sardines, and other animal parts.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These biostimulants were earlier cleared for crops like paddy, tomato, chilli, cotton, cucumber, soybean, grapes, and green gram.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Regulatory Action<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The move came via a recent notification, which omitted these products from Schedule VI of the <\/span><b>Fertiliser Control Order (FCO), 1985<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though cleared earlier this year by the <\/span><b>Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ICAR later withheld permission citing ethical, religious, and dietary concerns.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It stressed the need for pre-harvest interval data before allowing animal-derived foliar sprays.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Regulatory Evolution<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biostimulants, distinct from fertilisers, are used mainly as sprays to boost crop yield, quality, and growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until 2021, they were freely sold without specific rules on safety or efficacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2021 amendment to the FCO mandated registration and proof of safety, but companies could continue sales until <\/span><b>June 16, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, if applications were filed.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Minister\u2019s Concerns on Market Proliferation<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Agriculture Minister <\/span><b>Shivraj Singh Chouhan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> highlighted the rampant sale of unregulated biostimulants, with nearly 30,000 products in circulation earlier.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even after stricter checks, about 8,000 remained in the last four years, but the crackdown has now reduced this to around 650 products.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/govt-pulls-nod-for-11-biostimulants-over-religious-dietary-concerns-10284631\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/biostimulants-meaning-agri-fertiliser-shivraj-farmers-10138567\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Agriculture Ministry revoked approval for 11 animal-based biostimulants citing religious and dietary concerns. Impact on farmers, regulations, and market outlook explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":66181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1748,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-66152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-biostimulants","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}