Fertilizer Use Efficiency Crisis: Implications for India's Food Security and Environmental Policy

The Hindu - Opinion · 24 May 2026 · 2 min read
Prelims · Agriculture Mains · GS3 Agriculture High relevance

India's inefficient fertilizer use, driven by import dependency and policy misalignment, threatens food security, exacerbates environmental degradation, and wastes ₹2 lakh crore in annual subsidies, necessitating urgent demand-side reforms.

Key points

Fertilizer subsidy burden: India spends ₹2 lakh crore annually on fertilizer subsidies, with over two-thirds lost to pollution rather than enhancing food production, highlighting systemic inefficiencies.

Import dependency: India produces 80% of its urea domestically but relies heavily on imported fuel for production, while phosphatic fertilizers are almost entirely imported due to lack of rock phosphate reserves.

Environmental damage: Excessive fertilizer use degrades soil organic matter, reduces water retention capacity, and contributes to air/water pollution, creating a vicious cycle of increasing demand.

Crop pattern distortion: MSP-driven rice-wheat monoculture consumes two-thirds of India's urea, displacing traditional pulse-cereal rotations that naturally fix nitrogen in soil.

[GS3-Environment] Climate impact: Fertilizer production and use account for significant greenhouse gas emissions, with urea losses as ammonia directly contributing to air pollution.

Policy failures: Nutrient-based subsidy scheme excluded urea, while neem-coating failed to curb losses, demonstrating inadequate demand-side management.

Nutritional consequences: Cereal-centric policies reduced pulse cultivation, worsening India's protein malnutrition despite having the world's largest vegetarian population.

Dalhan Aatmanirbharta Mission: Despite allocating ₹11,440 crore for pulse procurement, area under cultivation grew only 1.26% in 2026, revealing implementation gaps.

Way Forward: India should integrate pulse-cereal rotations in MSP procurement, expand organic farming incentives under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, and establish soil health-based fertilizer recommendations through KVKs.

Key terms

Nutrient-Based Subsidy

A fertilizer subsidy mechanism introduced in 2010 that provides fixed amounts per nutrient (N,P,K,S) rather than product-specific subsidies, aimed at balanced fertilizer use but criticized for excluding urea which constitutes 70% of consumption.

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

A price assurance mechanism under India's agricultural policy where the government declares minimum prices for 23 crops to protect farmers from price crashes, though actual procurement remains limited mainly to rice, wheat and sugarcane.

Green Ammonia

Ammonia produced using renewable energy-powered electrolysis of water, considered a sustainable alternative to conventional ammonia production but faces challenges in water-stressed regions due to high H2O requirements.

Dalhan Aatmanirbharta Mission

A 2025 initiative to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses through 100% MSP procurement of Tur, Urad and Masoor with ₹11,440 crore allocation, representing India's protein security strategy.