Farmers sprinkle fertilizer on a wheat field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS/AMIT DAVE
Against the Kharif season’s fertilisers demand of 383.9 lakh tonnes (lt) during April-September period, India has 163.65 lt of stock as of July 2, which is 43 per cent of the requirement. The government is confident of meeting the demand for July-September period due to continuous higher domestic production.As on July 2, urea stocks stood at 69.08 lt, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) at 16.64 lt, Muriate of Potash (MoP) at 8.90 lt, complex (combination of N, P, K nutrients) at 45.64 lt and single super phosphate (SSP) at 23.09 lt, taking total availability to 163.35 lt.The government has said that domestic production during Q1 FY27 (April-June) was 71.55 lt of urea, against a target of 67.86 lt. Similarly production of DAP at 9.84 lt too exceeded the target of 8.61 lt. Production of complex was 20.77 lt and that of SSP was 13.50 lt, the government said without mentioning their individual targetted output.Natural gas supply to urea plants, which had dropped to nearly 65 per cent during the disruption after war against Iran by US-Israel joint forces has now been fully restored to 100 per cent, allowing all plants to operate at full capacity, officials said.Fertilizer supply chain has shown improved as 15 of 20 vessels carrying imported crop nutrients and raw materials have safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the Fertilizers Ministry said on July 5. Of these, 8 vessels are bringing 3.32 lt of urea, 4 vessels 2.57 lt of DAP, and 3 vessels 1.11 lt of Sulphur and all are on schedule to reach Indian ports soon.Further, 5 vessels are also in the pipeline, including 1 each carrying 0.25 lt of Ammonia and 0.45 lt of urea. Loading is currently underway on two additional urea vessels and one Sulphur vessel, the Ministry said.The government said that it had ensured uninterrupted fertilizer availability through timely planning, effective coordination and continuous monitoring. Besides, new supply sources were also tapped through diplomatic outreach as urea have been arranged from Oman, Malaysia, Vietnam, Georgia, Nigeria, Russia, Finland, Egypt, Algeria, Turkiye and the Netherlands.For DAP and complex, cargoes were sailed through the Red Sea route from Russia, Morocco, Egypt, US, Jordan, South Korea, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.Union Fertilizers Minister JP Nadda said in a statement that the West Asia conflict had severely disrupted global supply chains, pushing up fertilizer prices and lengthening shipment transit times, with India not spared from the fallout.The Ministry said the combination of diversified imports, higher domestic output and adequate stocking had ensured satisfactory fertiliser availability across the country, and reiterated the government’s commitment to safeguarding farmers’ interests through timely supply measures.Published on July 7, 2026
