We need to address the issue of soil health. Four steps can improve the situation

Why in the News

Sixteen years after the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) was introduced, India’s use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash has become more imbalanced, not less. The Union Agriculture Minister’s rabi campaign, the Khet Bachao Abhiyan (Save the Farm Campaign) launched at Karnal, Haryana, urges balanced doses, but prices push farmers the other way.

What is the Nutrient Based Subsidy, and why did it backfire?

1. What it is: Under NBS (2010), the government pays a subsidy on phosphatic and potassic fertilisers according to the nutrients they contain, and lets their prices float with world markets.
2. Why it was introduced: Crops, like humans, need a balanced meal of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K). NBS was meant to correct their imbalanced use.
3. What went wrong: Urea, the main nitrogen source, stayed outside NBS at a fixed price. From 2010-11 to 2024-25:
   • diammonium phosphate (DAP) prices nearly tripled to ₹54/kg;
   • muriate of potash (MOP) prices rose six fold to ₹52/kg;
   • the price of nitrogen in urea rose just 1%.
4. Farmer response: Farmers follow relative prices, and nitrogen makes the crop look green. The damage from missing potash shows up later and quietly.
5. The takeaway: A reform meant to balance nutrients worsened the imbalance by freezing the price of the nutrient already overused.

What does the ICRIER study find?

1. ICRIER brief: The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) compared actual nutrient use in 20 major States with crop specific norms.
2. Nitrogen overuse: Nationally, nitrogen use moved from 7% below its recommended dose to 6% above it.
3. Potash deficit: The potash deficit deepened from 48% to 72%. Every State under applies potash.
4. Skewed ratio: Farmers apply nitrogen, phosphate and potash in a 10.5:4.1:1 ratio, against a recommended 2.8:1.5:1.

What does the imbalance cost?

1. Depleted soils: Of 2025-26 Soil Health Card soil tests, 72% were low in nitrogen, because soils short of organic carbon cannot hold what is poured on them.
2. Air and water pollution: Crops take up well under half the nitrogen applied. The rest escapes as nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, or seeps into groundwater as nitrate, found above safe limits in parts of 502 districts.
3. Health risk: Nitrate in water raises the risk of “blue baby syndrome”, in which an infant’s blood carries too little oxygen. Zinc poor soils yield zinc poor grain, fuelling hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiency).
4. Fiscal cost: The fertiliser subsidy budget for 2026-27 is ₹1.71 lakh crore. A Strait of Hormuz disruption could push it far higher.
5. Skewed benefits: Punjab gets about 10 times Kerala’s nitrogen subsidy per hectare. With minimum support price (MSP) procurement and subsidised power, this locks in rice wheat cropping and hurts aquifers.

Challenges

1. Tenant identification: A per hectare transfer needs land records, and identifying tenants who actually farm is hard.
2. Unused reward scheme: PM-PRANAM, meant to reward States that use fertilisers in a balanced way, has disbursed nothing so far.
3. Import exposure: India imports all its potash, so world price shocks pass straight into MOP prices.

Way Forward

1. Nutrient neutral DBT: Shift to a per hectare direct benefit transfer (DBT), neutral across nutrients and crops, using AgriStack farmer IDs, or bring urea under NBS.
2. Fix PM-PRANAM: Repair the scheme and pay States that balance fertiliser use.
3. Redirect savings: Fund drip irrigation, fertigation (fertiliser delivered through irrigation water) and coated, customised, bio and nano fertilisers from the savings.
4. Follow the 4Rs: Apply the right source, rate, time and place using soil tests, and rotate cereals with pulses to cut nitrogen needs.

Conclusion

India’s fertiliser imbalance is a pricing problem that no campaign can override. Success must be measured by balanced nutrient supply rather than total fertiliser applied.

Key numbers

1. Potash use: 9 kg per hectare applied, against a need of 32 kg.
2. Phosphorus deficit: narrowed only from 29% to 22%.
3. States overusing nitrogen: 11 of 20, led by Jharkhand and Punjab.
4. Subsidy bill with Hormuz disruption: ₹2.5 lakh crore to ₹3 lakh crore.

Government Initiatives for Fertiliser Management

1. Neem coated urea: All urea is neem coated to improve efficiency and curb non farm diversion.
2. One Nation One Fertiliser: Subsidised fertilisers are sold under a single Bharat brand to curb black marketing.
3. Nano fertilisers: Nano DAP and Nano Urea Plus aim to cut bulk use and imports.
4. National Mission on Natural Farming: Approved in November 2024, it promotes chemical free farming.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2020] With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements: 1. At present, the retail price of chemical fertilizers is market-driven and not administered by the Government. 2. Ammonia, which is an input of urea, is produced from natural gas. 3. Sulphur, which is a raw material for Phosphoric acid fertilizer, is a by-product of oil refineries. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 2 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 ANSWER: (b)”