New Delhi: India’s Integrated Fertiliser Management System (iFMS) has entered a new phase with the introduction of a series of digital initiatives aimed at strengthening transparency, improving fertiliser availability and enabling more effective, data-driven monitoring of the fertiliser supply chain, according to an official statement issued on Sunday.
Operating at a national scale, the system covers more than 14 crore Aadhaar-linked farmers who buy fertiliser, more than 2.5 lakh retailers and around seven crore metric tonne fertiliser sale transactions annually, while supporting the administration of fertiliser subsidy of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore annually.
Developed and technically supported by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for the Department of Fertilisers, iFMS connects key stages of the fertiliser ecosystem, including production, imports, movement, stock availability, retail sale and subsidy processing.
New dashboards and analytical tools have been developed to provide officials with a consolidated view of fertiliser production, imports, dispatches, movement, stocks and retail sales.
These tools enable monitoring at the national, state, district and retailer levels, helping identify unusual trends and emerging supply situations at an early stage.
An important step towards data-driven fertiliser management has been the integration of iFMS with farmer, land and crop databases maintained by states and other government platforms.
Integration with Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB) in Haryana and subsequent work towards integration with AgriStack established mechanisms for linking fertiliser transactions with farmer and agricultural information.
These initiatives provided valuable experience in matching fertiliser buyers with farmer and land records and highlighted practical issues relating to the availability, completeness and quality of land and crop information.
They also demonstrated the potential of combining fertiliser transaction data with agricultural data to develop a better understanding of fertiliser requirements and consumption.
The Framework for Fertiliser Sale (FFS) has emerged as an important initiative aimed at integrating a mobile app-based fertiliser booking system with the existing iFMS Point of Sale (PoS) ecosystem.
Under the framework, a farmer can book the required fertiliser based on his ID created in AgriStack, following verification of land and ownership details.
A QR-based booking is subsequently generated, and the booking information is accessed at the PoS device, enabling verification between the fertiliser required and the quantity ultimately purchased.
The framework is being implemented in a phased manner, allowing the Department and participating states to study booking behaviour, land and crop information, fertiliser consumption and operational issues before wider implementation.
The pilot has also created an important new verification and analytical layer between AgriStack and iFMS.
Digital monitoring of fertiliser movement has also been strengthened during this period through the Vehicle Location Tracking System (VLTS) initiative.
VLTS is intended to provide greater visibility into fertiliser movement across the supply chain.
iFMS continues to play a central role in fertiliser subsidy administration, with subsidy payments linked to actual fertiliser sales recorded through the PoS network.
Random verification mechanisms and additional analytical checks are also being introduced to strengthen scrutiny of Direct Benefit Transfer-related bills and transactions.
Together, these initiatives are intended to make subsidy processing more efficient while providing stronger digital controls and auditability.
Technology is increasingly being used not only to record transactions, but also to understand where fertiliser is available, how it is moving, who is purchasing it, how much is being consumed and how these patterns relate to agricultural requirements.
This evolution is strengthening the use of reliable digital information for ensuring timely fertiliser availability, improving transparency and enabling more informed management of one of India’s most important agricultural inputs, the statement added.
(IANS)
