The government on Monday said farmers have bought 1.1 million tonnes of organic manure in the ongoing kharif sowing season, a 3.5 times jump from 320,000 tonnes in the year-ago period, indicating a gradual shift from chemical fertilisers. The Centre also reiterated that the country’s overall fertiliser stock position is comfortable and there is no challenge in availability. It is also monitoring the situation regularly to ensure adequate domestic supply.
At an inter-ministerial briefing on the West Asia crisis, Aparna S Sharma, additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, said, “For kharif 2026, the fertiliser requirement has been reassessed by the Department of Agriculture at 38.3 million tonnes and against this, the stock as on today is 19.7 million tonnes”. The stock is more than 51 per cent of the kharif season demand, which is significantly higher than the usual level of 33 per cent, she added.
“The purchase of fertiliser has been about 8.6 million tonnes for the ongoing kharif, that is approximately 22.57 per cent of the total requirement,” Sharma said.
“This substantial increase reflects a positive trend towards greater adoption of the organic nutrient sources and a gradual shift in the farmers’ preference from chemical fertiliser to the organic alternatives,” Sharma said.
“The domestic production and import continue, and a total of 14.7 million tonnes have been imported as well as domestically manufactured since the crisis situation. In June, more than 2.5 million tonnes of imported urea, DAP, and NPKS arrived at the ports, and a tender for 1.7 million tonnes of urea is in progress,” she said.
