The Centre is building a digital system to track the sale of its urea, in an effort to curb diversion and hoarding of its most-utilized fertilizer at a time of broken supply chains and concerns of food security.
The new system, spearheaded by the Department of Fertilizers, will require Aadhaar-based biometric authentication through a mobile app currently under development, two people familiar with the plan said. At a later stage, the system will also integrate farmers' land records, crop details, and fertilizer requirements based on landholding. The plan draws heavily from similar models in Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana, the people said on the condition of anonymity.
The move is significant for India, the world’s largest urea importer and its second-largest fertilizer consumer. The country expects to spend ₹1.71 trillion in subsidizing fertilizers in the current fiscal year, a big chunk of which will go towards urea. Adding to the urgency is the war in West Asia, the source of around two-third of urea imports and nearly 32% of India’s diammonium phosphate (DAP) imports in FY25.
“We plan to adopt best practices already implemented by other states to streamline inventory management and distribution. These initiatives have enabled authorities to better align supply with demand and curb diversion,” the first person cited above said.
Data mining
The platform will streamline access to key nutrients such as urea and DAP, by enabling farmers to place advance orders through their mobile phones. Farmers may be able to select nearby retailers, check real-time availability and receive booking confirmations or delivery timelines. The move is expected to reduce last-mile bottlenecks, long queues at retail outlets and panic buying during peak sowing seasons.
Haryana's Meri Fazal Mera Byora (MFMB) system is among the leading state-level models for fertilizer regulation. Farmers are required to register their Aadhaar details along with land and crop information, which is then used to determine fertilizer entitlement based on acreage and crop type. The move is aimed at plugging leakages, preventing diversion to non-agricultural uses, and ensuring timely availability to genuine farmers.
The government also plans to integrate the digital tracking system with the existing direct benefit transfer (DBT) system, in which subsidies are directly transferred to the farmer after authentication using Aadhaar or mobile OTPs.
Queries emailed to the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers and the ministry of agriculture remained unanswered.
Predictability
“The idea is to bring predictability in fertilizer availability and empower farmers with information before they reach the outlet. The app is at an advanced stage of development and may be piloted ahead of the kharif sowing cycle. The farmer’s land records, crop details, and fertilizer requirements based on landholding will be integrated at a later stage,” the second person added. The kharif sowing cycle starts in June.
India imported 5.6 million tonnes urea in FY25,out of its total consumption of 38.79 mt. India also imports 60% of its DAP needs, and 15% of its urea and NPK fertilizer demand. It also imports several key raw materials and intermediates such as rock phosphate, phosphoric acid and potash due to limited domestic availability.
Experts welcomed the move.
“The move will ensure judicious allocation of fertilizers and also will help in mapping the commodity. Overall, online fertilizer booking can bring predictability, transparency and efficiency—key factors in improving farm productivity and farmer convenience," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda.
“I believe this is a step in the right direction and should have a lasting impact. Fertilizer is heavily subsidized compared to open market prices, so this will improve traceability and ensure more equitable distribution to operational farmers,” said Shweta Saini, Founder and CEO, Arcus Policy Research, Delhi.
Farmer IDs
This comes in the backdrop of a new farmer identification system, which will link each farmer’s land, crops, and family data to a unified identification system. Speaking in Bhopal on 10 April, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said subsidized fertilizers are sometimes diverted for non-agricultural uses. Under the new system, the required quantity of fertilizer for each farmer will be determined, ensuring adequate supply while preventing hoarding, diversion, and black marketing, said Chauhan. He added that more than 9.29 crore farmer IDs have already been created, with a target to expand this to around 13 crore farmers.
The Economic Survey 2025-26 recommended a gradual increase in urea retail prices, coupled with an equivalent per-acre direct cash transfer to farmers’ bank accounts, aimed at curbing excessive fertilizer use and addressing the widening imbalance in soil nutrients.
In 2025-26, kharif foodgrain production is estimated at 174.14 million tonnes (mt), while rabi output is pegged at 174.5 mt, excluding summer crops. This represents an increase of around 4.6 mt (2.8%) in kharif and 5.3 mt (3.2%) in rabi compared to last year’s levels of 169.5 mt and 169.2 mt, respectively.
Availability concerns
The new playbook comes amid recurring concerns over uneven fertilizer distribution and sporadic shortages in some regions, particularly during the peak sowing season. By adopting a pre-booking mechanism, the government hopes to smoothen demand spikes and improve supply chain efficiency.
Agriculture and allied activities are likely to contribute 15.6% of India’s national income at current prices in FY26; with the sector accounting for 46.1% of the country’s workforce.
Earlier, Chouhan on 25 February pitched for transferring the central government's ₹1.7 trillion annual fertilizer subsidy to farmers' bank accounts through DBT, saying it would give them the freedom to choose which fertilizers to buy and in what quantities. Currently, fertilizer subsidies in India are primarily transferred to companies rather than directly to farmers.