Towards Smarter, Greener, Indigenous Fertilisers

Fertilisers are one of the three critical inputs for agricultural production and productivity. In agrarian economies, fertilisers have long been the ‘silent engine’ of food security.

Ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia and the resultant disruption to supply chains expose the vulnerability of fertiliser import-dependent countries, including India. Simply put, soil nutrients matter not just in quantity but also for strategic autonomy. 

This is not the first time. Four years ago, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out and the Black Sea region faced a shipping blockade, supplies of fertilisers and other commodities from Russia were disrupted.

A handful of countries control the majority of global fertiliser exports. Russia and Belarus dominate potash exports, while China is a major exporter of urea and phosphate. When conflict or export restrictions occur in these regions, global food prices spike almost immediately. This was evident during the 2022-23 global food crisis.

Therefore, as the world’s second-largest consumer of fertilisers, India must treat reducing import dependence as a critical pillar of food security.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) are key plant nutrients, and their balance is essential for soil health and crop growth. An often-cited optimal balance is around 4:2:1. Historically, however, there has been an imbalance due to excessive urea use. This degrades soil health over time.

Natural gas is the primary feedstock for producing nitrogen fertilisers such as urea, for which India’s import dependence is about 15%. The near-closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of global LNG shipments passes, has disrupted supply chains, delayed deliveries and pushed up costs.

India’s import dependence is about 60% for phosphorus (diammonium phosphate) and nearly 100% for potassium (muriate of potash).

From a food security perspective, fertilisers lie at the heart of the ‘food versus fuel’ debate of the past two decades. As part of the renewable energy push, biofuels are moving to the centre of energy security in this transition.

As more crops such as sugarcane, maize, and soybean are diverted to produce ethanol or biodiesel, demand for fertilisers rises. This could raise input costs for food crops, particularly for smallholders.

There is a need to intensify the promotion of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through the combined use of inorganic fertilisers and organic sources such as manure, compost, green manure, bio-fertilisers, and crop residue recycling. These help maintain soil health and reduce dependence on chemical fertilisers.

India must decisively move toward smarter, greener, indigenous fertilisers. Bio-fertilisers utilise microbes and fungi to help plants fix nitrogen naturally from the air or the soil. Nano fertilisers use nanotechnology to create slow-release nutrients that improve uptake efficiency.

Recovering phosphorus and nitrogen from livestock manure and human waste is also possible. Precision agriculture uses modern technology to apply optimal quantities of fertilisers and reduce waste.

It is critical that fertiliser security is recognised as a strategic imperative amid our existing triple challenges of land constraints, water shortage and climate change. High cropping intensity — across the Kharif, Rabi and summer seasons — rapidly depletes soil nutrients. This makes external replenishment in the form of fertilisers essential to ensure sustained output.  

India needs sustained growth to ensure food security for its growing population. The triumvirate of inputs – seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals – is central to this thesis. In an analogy drawn from Hindu mythology, these inputs resemble the Trimurti.
Seeds are Brahma, the creator; fertilisers are Vishnu, the sustainers; and agro-chemicals are Shiva, the destroyers of pests in crops. Together, they embody the crop life cycle.