Indian Fertiliser Policy and Natural Farming
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indian farmers to reduce chemical fertiliser usage by half and transition towards “natural farming”. This proposal, while aiming to promote judicious use of fertilisers, may not be practical given the current agricultural dependencies and constraints.
Current Fertiliser Usage and Issues
- Fertilisers provide essential nutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulphur (S) necessary for crop production.
- India's limited reserves of natural gas, rock phosphate, potash, and elemental sulphur necessitate heavy reliance on imports.
- The West Asia conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz challenge this import dependency, affecting up to 30% of global fertiliser trade.
Government Policies and Their Impacts
- Historically, governments have subsidised fertilisers, inadvertently promoting the overuse of high-analysis products like urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP).
- Such policies have led to severe soil nutrient imbalances.
- Farmers initially used fertilisers like ammonium sulphate and single super phosphate, which have been largely replaced by high-content N and P fertilisers lacking other nutrients.
Challenges with Current Fertiliser Efficiency
- The nutrient use efficiency of urea is low; only about one-third of its nitrogen content is absorbed by plants.
- The remaining nitrogen is lost through volatilisation or leaching, reducing overall efficiency.
Proposed Reforms for Fertiliser Policy
- The government should consider freeing or raising retail prices of fertilisers to import parity levels.
- Reforming the subsidy regime to a per-acre payment scheme, such as Rs 5,000 per cultivating farmer, is recommended.
- Savings from the existing subsidy and PM-Kisan can be redirected towards a direct income support scheme.
Given the current fiscal and physical unsustainability of the subsidy and price controls, particularly exacerbated by the West Asia crisis, urgent reforms in the fertiliser policy are necessary.
