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Nitrogen has been feeding billions, but it is now overloading our soils, waters, and air. Why is the fertilizer that fuels our food supply also creating a massive pollution problem? How do India's large fertilizer subsidies fit into this, and what are the long-term health risks of "legacy nitrogen" already in our groundwater?
Esha Zaveri, Senior Economist at the World Bank joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 7 of the Water Data Podcast.
Esha Zaveri is trained as an environmental economist. Her core work addresses issues at the intersection of environmental health, agricultural impacts, water resources, climate change, and development policy, spanning global to region- and country-level assessments in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
In this episode, Esha and Veena zoom into India’s use of urea for agriculture, large fertilizer subsidies, low nitrogen use efficiency, groundwater exposure, and the challenge of legacy nitrogen that slows water-quality recovery. Further Esha also lays out how to cut pollution without cutting yields.
Esha explains why only a fraction of fertilizer reaches crops, why the rest leaks into groundwater and coasts, the health risks (from methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome to emerging low-level exposure links), and the policy levers that work—precision agronomy, enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, extension services, and redirecting subsidies to support farmer transitions.
The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan.
For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-eshazaveri/
Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app – and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.
Subscription links: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, Castbox, and wherever you get your podcasts!
Recording by Nabina Chakraborty and Ritik Pathak. Video editing by Nabina Chakraborty. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.
Chapters
1. Highlights (00:00:00)
2. Introduction (00:00:58)
3. Why nitrogen matters (00:02:03)
4. A short history of nitrogen (00:02:51)
5. The Nitrate Crisis Explained (00:06:47)
6. How Nitrogen Contaminates Our Water (00:10:51)
7. The Hidden Health Risks (00:11:31)
8. Support WELL Labs: Like, Share, and Subscribe! (00:14:00)
9. India's Nitrogen Challenge (00:14:20)
10. The Politics and Economics of Nitrogen Pollution (00:18:50)
11. How Subsidies Fuel the Problem (00:21:29)
12. Agro- ecology and data (00:26:25)
13. Check Out the Video Episode! (00:31:45)
14. Scaling Up Sustainable Solutions (00:31:56)
15. Global examples of change (00:39:00)
16. Innovative Tech & Farming Solutions (00:41:34)
17. How Nitrogen Affects Irrigation (00:46:07)
18. Conclusion (00:46:57)
11 episodes
