National Resilience | Agri-Input Sovereignty | Food Security
The Sector at a Glance
Fertilisers and other agricultural inputs are the hidden foundation of food security. Every harvest depends on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium reaching the soil in the right quantity at the right time, on good seed, and on the safe use of crop protection chemicals. The sector covered under this tab spans nitrogenous fertilisers such as urea and ammonia; phosphatic fertilisers such as DAP and complex grades; potash; secondary and micronutrients; organic, bio and nano fertilisers; the raw materials behind them, including natural gas, rock phosphate, phosphoric acid, sulphur and potash ores; quality seed and seed systems; and agrochemicals for crop protection.
The scope of this tab extends across the full input chain: raw material sourcing and long-term supply agreements abroad, domestic manufacturing capacity and technology, logistics and timely distribution to farmers before each sowing season, subsidy and pricing policy, quality control and the fight against counterfeit inputs, soil health and balanced nutrition, and the shift towards efficient and sustainable inputs. It is developed by BAP-I as a multidisciplinary research, policy and resilience-oriented knowledge ecosystem within the broader Viksit Bharat and BNRI framework, and it connects closely with the Institute's work on chemical sovereignty.
Why This Sector Is Critical
A country can have fertile land, good rainfall and skilled farmers and still face a poor harvest if fertiliser does not arrive in time. Global fertiliser markets are concentrated in a small number of producing countries, and they are exposed to wars, sanctions, export restrictions and sharp swings in the price of natural gas. When these shocks hit, the cost falls first on the farmer and then on the public purse through higher subsidies, and in the worst case on national food supply.
The vulnerabilities run deeper than finished fertiliser. Urea production depends on natural gas, much of which is imported. Phosphatic fertilisers depend on imported rock phosphate and phosphoric acid. Potash has almost no domestic source. Seed quality, counterfeit agrochemicals and the imbalance in nutrient use add further risks to yields and to soil health over time. Because the timing of supply matters as much as the quantity, even short disruptions before kharif or rabi sowing can have lasting effects on output.
The Bharat Context
Bharat is among the largest consumers of fertilisers in the world and depends on imports for a significant part of its needs: some urea, much of its DAP and the raw materials for phosphatic fertilisers, and nearly all of its potash. The government supports farmers through a fixed retail price for urea and the Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme for phosphatic and potassic fertilisers, which together form one of the largest subsidy programmes in the national budget. Since 2012, policy has encouraged new urea capacity, and several revived and new plants have come on stream, including projects based on coal gasification that aim to reduce dependence on imported gas.
Indian cooperatives and companies have developed nano urea and nano DAP, and the government has promoted soil health cards, neem-coated urea, organic and natural farming, and the One Nation One Fertiliser approach to branding and distribution. Indian firms have also invested in or signed long-term agreements with producers abroad to secure phosphate and potash supplies. These efforts show progress, but the core dependence on imported raw materials and the scale of subsidy exposure remain central questions for national resilience.
Importance of the Sector
The sector matters to national resilience in four ways. First, food security: fertiliser availability directly shapes the size of every harvest. Second, fiscal stability: fertiliser subsidy is highly sensitive to global prices, so supply security protects the national budget. Third, strategic autonomy: reducing dependence on a few foreign suppliers lowers the nation's exposure to coercion and market shocks. Fourth, soil and environmental health: balanced and efficient use of inputs protects the land that will feed future generations.
For BAP-I, this sector sits at the meeting point of agriculture, chemicals, energy, trade and diplomacy. It is a clear example of how a single input can carry national consequences, and why the security of inputs deserves the same attention as the security of outputs.
Research Focus Possibilities
A. Raw Materials and Supply Security
- Mapping of import dependence for natural gas, rock phosphate, phosphoric acid, sulphur and potash, and options to diversify sources
- Effectiveness of overseas joint ventures and long-term offtake agreements in securing supply
- Domestic exploration potential for phosphate and potash and the economics of developing it
- Reserve stocks of fertilisers and raw materials to cover seasonal and geopolitical disruptions
B. Manufacturing and Technology
- Coal gasification and green ammonia as routes to reduce gas dependence in urea production
- Field performance and scale-up of nano fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and organic inputs
- Indigenous technology for phosphoric acid, specialty fertilisers and crop protection chemicals
- Energy efficiency and emissions in fertiliser plants
C. Distribution, Quality and Farmer Access
- Logistics of moving fertilisers from ports and plants to villages ahead of each sowing season
- Detection and prevention of counterfeit and substandard fertilisers, seeds and pesticides
- Digital tracking of input supply and subsidy delivery
- Seed system resilience, seed quality assurance and the conservation of indigenous varieties
D. Policy, Subsidy and Soil Health
- Reform options for fertiliser subsidy that protect farmers while encouraging balanced nutrient use
- Soil health trends and the long-term effects of nutrient imbalance on yields
- Integration of natural and organic farming with national food production goals
- Indicators of agri-input security for use within the Bharat National Resilience Index
Who Can Participate
This tab invites participation from agricultural universities and ICAR institutes, soil scientists and agronomists, chemical engineers and fertiliser technologists, fertiliser companies and cooperatives, seed producers and plant breeders, agrochemical manufacturers, logistics and port operators, agricultural economists and public finance experts, farmer producer organisations, state agriculture departments, trade and geopolitical analysts, start-ups in agri-inputs and precision farming, policy think tanks, international collaborators and individual researchers with domain expertise. Contributions from practitioners, policymakers and academics carry equal standing within the BAP-I research framework.
The Resilience Objective
Every contribution under this tab must serve one purpose: ensuring that Bharat's farmers have the fertilisers, seeds and other inputs they need, on time and at fair cost, whatever happens in world markets, so that the nation's food supply rests on secure foundations. BAP-I does not treat research as an end in itself. It treats research as the instrument through which agri-input security is identified, measured and built.
