India's Fertilizer Strategy and the Shift Toward Balanced Fertilisation

India is increasingly focusing on reducing its reliance on imported fertilisers such as urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), and muriate of potash (MOP). This shift is crucial for the country’s agricultural strategy and economic efficiency, especially given that these fertilisers are heavily imported, making India vulnerable to fluctuations in global prices and currency depreciation.

What is the current state of India’s fertilizer sector?

• Globally, India is the second largest producer and consumer of fertilizers only after China.
• Major Fertilizers Produced: The main fertilizers produced in India include urea, DAP (diammonium phosphate), NP (nitrogen-phosphorus), NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) complex fertilizers, ammonium sulphate, potash, and single super phosphate (SSP).
• Import Dependency: India heavily relies on imports for key raw materials for fertilizer production:
  • Potash: Entirely imported, with no domestic sources.
  • Phosphates: Phosphate rock and phosphoric acid are imported.
  • Urea: 30% of India’s urea requirement is met by imports.
  • MOP: MOP is entirely imported from countries like Canada, Russia, Jordan, and Israel because India lacks potash reserves.
  • DAP: Both the finished product and its raw materials (like rock phosphate and sulphur) are imported, mostly from countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, and Morocco.
• Fertilizer Subsidy: The government provides subsidies to ensure affordable prices for fertilizers:
  • Urea is sold at a subsidized price under the Retention Pricing Scheme (RPS).
  • Phosphate, complex, and potassic fertilizers are under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme.

The Shift:

• Now, India is focusing to promote balanced fertilisation, where fertiliser use is tailored to the specific nutrient needs of crops. This will help in reducing dependency on imported fertilisers while improving the efficiency of nutrient use in agriculture.
• Ammonium Phosphate Sulphate (APS) is emerging as an effective substitute for DAP. APS, with a formula of 20:20:0:13 (20% nitrogen, 20% phosphorous, 13% sulphur), provides balanced nutrition for a variety of crops like oilseeds, pulses, and maize.
• This complex fertiliser helps farmers avoid using DAP, which has a very high phosphorous content but lacks sulphur and nitrogen.
• Why APS is Better:
  • APS is cheaper to produce than DAP.
  • It requires less phosphoric acid and uses sulphuric acid to make the fertiliser, which is a cheaper source of sulphur.
  • By using APS, fertiliser companies can sell it at a lower price while reducing waste.

Why the Shift Is Necessary?

• Import Dependence: India is highly dependent on imports.
• High Analysis Fertilisers: Urea, DAP, and MOP are all high-analysis fertilisers, meaning they contain very high amounts of individual nutrients (like 46% nitrogen in urea and 60% potash in MOP).
  • While these nutrients are essential, most crops require a balanced mix of nutrients, including secondary nutrients (such as sulphur, calcium, and magnesium) and micronutrients (like zinc, iron, and boron).
  • The overuse of high-analysis fertilisers leads to inefficient nutrient absorption, harming both the environment and farmers' costs.
• Economic Impact: Importing these high-analysis fertilisers is expensive, and the depreciation of the Indian Rupee makes imports even more costly. This puts a strain on India's foreign exchange reserves and increases the subsidy burden for the government.

Government’s Role:

• The government is working to cap the consumption of high-analysis fertilisers like urea, DAP, and MOP.
• Encouraging farmers to use fertilisers with the correct nutrient mix is crucial for improving nutrient use efficiency and maximising foreign exchange savings.
  • For example, NPKS (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium, and Sulphur) complex fertilisers, such as 10:26:26:0, 12:32:16:0, and 15:15:15:0, are designed to meet the complete nutritional needs of crops.