New Delhi: India’s fertiliser security for farmers remains strong, stable, and well-managed, with availability consistently exceeding requirement across all major fertilisers, according to an official update issued on Thursday.
For Kharif 2026, the fertiliser requirement has been assessed by the Agriculture Ministry at 390.54 lakh metric tonnes (LMT). Against this, around 193.38 LMT is available as of Thursday, which works out to 50 per cent, significantly higher than the usual level of about 33 per cent stock that is usually maintained at this time of the year. This reflects improved planning, advance stocking, and efficient logistics management, the statement said.
The supply position continues to be strong in the states. For the period 1 from April 1 to 30, availability remains substantially higher than the requirement. Urea availability is 73.81 LMT against a requirement of 22.91 LMT, DAP availability is 23.47 LMT against 7.44 LMT requirement, MOP availability is 8.54 LMT against 2.18 LMT requirement, NPK availability is 54.04 LMT against 9.40 LMT requirement, and SSP availability is 26.20 LMT against 4.16 LMT requirement. This clearly indicates a strong opening position for the ongoing kharif season, the statement said.
There has also been no change in the retail price of major fertilisers despite the rise in cost in global markets, it noted.
A total of 78 LMT of fertilisers has been added to the availability after the crisis situation triggered by the West Asia conflict. In April this year, urea production almost achieved the domestic production of 20.8-21 LMT as compared to 21.89 LMT in April last year.
India has secured a total of 38.07 LMT of urea fertiliser through the global tender route since Feb-end to date.
Indian fertiliser companies have also issued aggregated global tenders for the procurement of 12 LMT DAP, 4 LMT TSP and 3 LMT ammonium sulphate on April 24, which will help to ensure adequate availability during the peak season.
Availability of inputs for the production of urea and P&K fertilisers is being regularly reviewed by the Department of Fertilisers. As many as six meetings of the empowered Group of Secretaries have been held till now to ensure the adequate availability of the fertilisers, and most of the challenges in the availability have been addressed, the statement added.
(IANS)
