Using less, using it smarter, and replacing it where possible
For generations, India's agricultural abundance has rested partly on a foundation it does not fully control — imported fertilisers that feed its soils but drain its foreign reserves and expose its food system to distant disruptions. On Tuesday, scientists, officials, and farmers gathered under the banner of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences to begin rewriting that dependency, charting a course toward nutrient self-reliance by 2047 through a layered strategy of soil restoration, biological alternatives, and precision technology. The ambition is not merely economic — it is a reckoning with the unfinished business of the Green Revolution, which raised yields but taught farmers to apply chemistry without listening to the land.
- India imports a substantial share of its 33 million tonnes of annual fertiliser consumption, leaving its food security exposed to global price shocks and supply chain fragility.
- Decades of imprecise, blanket fertiliser application have degraded soil health and eroded the efficiency of every tonne spent — the old model is quietly failing the farmers it once empowered.
- A national strategy session convened researchers, industry, and farmers to align on a layered roadmap: precision nutrient management, crop diversification toward pulses and oilseeds, and domestic mineral extraction to reduce import reliance.
- The most urgent target is a Mission Mode Program — INSAM — aiming to replace 25% of mineral fertiliser use with organic alternatives within just three years, backed by AI-driven knowledge platform Bharat VISTAAR.
- The deeper challenge is cultural: an extension system historically rewarded for pushing fertiliser consumption must now retrain farmers to use less, use smarter, and measure success by soil health rather than input volume.
India consumes roughly 33 million tonnes of fertiliser each year, and a significant portion arrives from abroad — a dependency that sits uneasily against the government's ambition to achieve full self-reliance by 2047. On Tuesday, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences brought together officials, researchers, industry leaders, and farmers to confront that contradiction and sketch a credible path forward.
M L Jat, who leads both the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, set the terms plainly: Atmanirbhar Bharat cannot be achieved while agriculture remains tethered to imported inputs. The Green Revolution delivered yields, but it also entrenched a culture of imprecise application — farmers adding fertiliser without knowing what their soil actually needs, efficiency declining, and foreign exchange flowing out with every shipment.
The roadmap that emerged is deliberately layered. In the near term, the priority is soil health and balanced nutrient management, supported by precision technologies — sensors and AI systems that tell farmers exactly what a field needs, when, and how much. Crop diversification toward pulses and oilseeds would ease pressure on imported phosphate and potassium. Looking further ahead, India's own untapped mineral reserves — glauconite, phosphate rock, polyhalite — and industrial waste streams offer domestic substitutes. The Waste-to-Wealth initiative, converting agricultural and industrial refuse into usable nutrients, anchors this longer vision.
The sharpest near-term commitment is a three-year target: replace at least 25 percent of current mineral fertiliser use with organic alternatives through a Mission Mode Program on Integrated Nutrient Supply and Management. The AI platform Bharat VISTAAR is designed to carry proven techniques from research stations to fields at speed.
Underlying all of it is a fundamental reversal. India's agricultural extension system spent decades encouraging farmers to use more fertiliser. The new measure of success is the opposite — less consumption, smarter application, and soil that is built up rather than drawn down. That shift in message, incentive, and institutional culture may prove as demanding as any technical challenge on the roadmap.
India uses roughly 33 million tonnes of fertiliser every year, and a significant share of that comes from abroad. On Tuesday, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences gathered officials, researchers, industry leaders, and farmers to work out how to change that equation—how to make the country self-sufficient in this essential input that feeds its farms and, by extension, its people.
M L Jat, who leads both the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, framed the challenge plainly. India's ambition to become self-reliant by 2047 cannot succeed if agriculture remains tethered to imported fertilisers. The Green Revolution of decades past proved what chemical nutrients could do for yields. But that era created its own problems: farmers now apply fertilisers without precision, without understanding what their soil actually needs, and the efficiency of each tonne applied has declined. The country is spending money and foreign exchange on inputs it could, in theory, produce or replace at home.
The roadmap that emerged from the session is not a single fix but a layered strategy. In the near term, the focus is on soil health—understanding and restoring what the earth beneath the crops can actually provide. Farmers need better information about balanced, targeted nutrient use rather than blanket applications. Technology plays a central role: precision systems that use sensors and artificial intelligence to tell a farmer exactly what nutrients a field needs, when, and how much. There is also a push toward crop diversification, steering more land toward pulses and oilseeds, which have different nutrient profiles and can reduce the pressure on imported phosphate and potassium.
The longer view involves harnessing resources that India has but has not fully exploited. Glauconite, phosphate rock, mica, and polyhalite exist within Indian borders. Industrial waste streams—byproducts that currently go unused—can be processed into fertiliser substitutes. Biological inputs, from microbial inoculants to compost made from crop residues and organic waste, can gradually replace some of the chemical load. The Waste-to-Wealth initiative, which converts agricultural and industrial refuse into usable nutrients, sits at the center of this vision.
But the most concrete target is this: within three years, the government aims to replace at least 25 percent of the mineral fertiliser currently in use with organic alternatives. To make that happen at scale, the strategy calls for a Mission Mode Program focused on Integrated Nutrient Supply and Management. This is not a suggestion or a pilot. It is a coordinated push, backed by policy, to shift how farmers think about and access nutrients. Digital platforms—specifically an AI system called Bharat VISTAAR—will spread proven techniques across the country rapidly, moving knowledge from research stations to fields in real time.
One observation threaded through the discussion: India's agricultural extension system, the network that connects research to farmers, has historically pushed fertiliser use upward. Increasing consumption was the goal. Now the goal is the opposite—using less, using it smarter, and replacing it where possible with alternatives that build soil rather than deplete it. That is a fundamental shift in how the system talks to farmers, and it will require retraining, new incentives, and a different measure of success.
The stakes are economic and strategic. Every tonne of fertiliser imported is foreign currency leaving the country, vulnerability to global price shocks, and dependence on supply chains beyond India's control. Every tonne produced or replaced domestically is a step toward the self-reliance the government has named as a core objective. The three-year timeline is aggressive but not arbitrary—it is meant to signal that this is urgent, that the old model is ending, and that the transition has already begun.
Notable Quotes
India's goal of becoming self-reliant by 2047 places agriculture at the center of this transformation, and fertiliser dependence must be addressed through soil health, balanced nutrient use, and farmer awareness.— M L Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does India import so much fertiliser if it has the land and the expertise to produce it?
Partly history. The Green Revolution created a system optimized for chemical inputs—factories, supply chains, farmer habits all built around that. But also capacity. India makes fertiliser, but not enough to meet demand. And some nutrients are cheaper to import than to extract domestically. The real issue is that we've never seriously tried to replace them with alternatives.
So the 25 percent target in three years—is that realistic?
It depends on what you mean by realistic. The government is betting it is, and they're backing it with a coordinated push across research, extension, and policy. But it requires farmers to change behaviour, which is slow. The technology exists. The bottleneck is adoption.
What does organic replacement actually mean here? Are they talking about full organic farming?
No. They're talking about integrated nutrient management—using organic inputs where they make sense, chemical where they don't, but doing it with precision instead of habit. A farmer might use compost for base nutrition and targeted chemical fertiliser for specific deficiencies. It's a hybrid approach, not ideological.
The AI platform, Bharat VISTAAR—how does that actually reach a farmer in a village?
That's the real question. It's supposed to work through extension agents, through digital tools, maybe through farmer cooperatives. But the extension system itself is part of the problem. It's been trained to sell more fertiliser, not less. Reorienting that will take time and money.
What happens if this fails? If farmers don't adopt these methods?
Then India stays dependent on imports, vulnerable to price spikes and supply disruptions. And the soil keeps degrading. The government is betting that showing farmers the economic case—lower input costs, better long-term yields—will be enough. But it's a bet.