India's foodgrain requirement to feed the estimated population of 1 400 million by 2025 will be 300 million tonnes (based on rice, i.e. unhusked paddy rice). There will be a corresponding increase in requirement of other crops such as cotton, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables. The country will require about 45 million tonne of nutrients (30 million tonnes for foodgrains and 15 million tonnes of nutrients for other crops) from various sources of plant nutrients, i.e. fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers. The further increase in crop production will have to come from an increase in yields as there is limited scope for increasing cultivated area. The yields of the majority of the crops are relatively low and there is great potential for increasing them through the increased use of inputs such as fertilizers. Fertilizer use will remain key to the future development of agriculture.
The handling of increasing quantities of fertilizers will put pressure on storage and handling facilities and transport. Products and practices that improve fertilizer-use efficiency will need special encouragement. Fertilizer promotion will have to include activities that promote not only increased rates of use but also better balances between the nutrients and higher efficiency. Attention also needs to focus on the availability of credit, an essential factor in ensuring the availability of fertilizers to farmers.
India will continue to be a major importer of raw materials, intermediates as well as finished products. The fertilizer product pattern is unlikely to change in the near future, and urea and DAP will continue to dominate fertilizer production. Attention will need to focus on ensuring the availability of good-quality micronutrient fertilizers.
