India Must Reduce Fertiliser Import Dependency, Leverage AI to Optimise Fertiliser Use: ICAR Chief

Additionally, he pointed to the importance of crop diversification towards pulses and oilseeds, recycling organic waste under the Waste-to-Wealth initiative, and increasing reliance on biological inputs to reduce the burden on chemical fertilizers.

Multi-Pronged R&D Strategy Proposed

Speaking about the brainstorming session, he said that participants advised adopting a multi-pronged strategy with short-, medium-, and long-term research and development (R&D) goals, along with enabling policies to achieve the same.

“The roadmap should emphasize strengthening fertilizer research for development of smart alternate fertilizers, utilization of unexploited indigenous minerals such as glauconite, phosphate rocks, mica, polyhalite, and greater use of industrial by-products and biological solutions.”

Emphasis was also placed on improving composting techniques, leveraging soil microbiomes, breeding crops for higher nutrient-use efficiency (NUE), and adopting good agricultural practices (GAP), including precision nutrient management, integration of fertilizers and organics, soil health restoration, crop diversification, and residue recycling.

Mission-Mode Programme for Organic Transition

A key recommendation was the launch of a mission-mode programme on Integrated Nutrient Supply and Management (INSAM), with a target to replace at least 25 percent of current mineral fertilizer use with organic alternatives within three years.

“An aggressive round-the-year technology transfer using digital tools such as AI platform Bharat VISTAAR would help large-scale adoption of the proven technologies. Weak extension lays greater emphasis on increasing fertilizer use and not on its efficient use,” the official release said.

The representatives reached a consensus that a paradigm shift is needed in the current fertilizer policies, especially bringing urea under the ambit of nutrient-based subsidy, repurposing fertilizer subsidy as an incentive for adoption of GAP, linking subsidies with soil health card, and exploring the possibility of disbursing subsidy to the farmers as direct cash transfer.

The availability of low-cost urea was identified as a major factor contributing to its overuse, while comparatively expensive phosphorus and potassium fertilizers remain underutilized, leading to nutrient imbalances in soil.

“Availability of cheap urea is a principal disincentive to make its efficient use or to stop making its over-use. Proportionally underuse than recommended of more expensive fertilizer P and K provokes their deficiencies in soil and crops.”

Providing context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare noted that fertilizers have been central to India’s agricultural transformation since the Green Revolution, enabling the country to achieve food self-sufficiency. However, the sector remains heavily import-dependent, particularly for phosphorus and potassium, resulting in significant foreign exchange outflows and a mounting subsidy burden, estimated at Rs 1.71 lakh crore in 2024–25.

Imbalanced Nutrient Use a Growing Challenge

Inefficient fertilizer use continues to constrain productivity, with crops absorbing only a fraction of applied nutrients—30–50 percent of nitrogen, 15–25 percent of phosphorus, and 50–60 percent of potassium—while the rest is lost through environmental processes. This low nutrient-use efficiency (NUE) increases production costs, escalates subsidies, and contributes to soil and water degradation, the Ministry said.

With total fertilizer consumption reaching 32.93 million tonnes in 2024–25 and a skewed nutrient ratio heavily favouring nitrogen, the Ministry cautioned that global developments, including geopolitical tensions affecting supply chains, should serve as a wake-up call.

Global Supply Risks Trigger Policy Rethink

“Around 80 percent of natural gas used in urea production is imported, further underlining dependence on imports even in domestically produced fertilizers. The recent development in the west Asia should not be taken as a short-term supply chain crisis with respect to fertilizers and raw materials. But, it is a wake-up call to rethink and realign our policies and R&D priorities towards self-reliance,” the Ministry said.