97% soil samples low in nitrogen despite urea overuse; Punjab most hooked: Study

Chandigarh. Indian farmers keep pouring urea into their fields, yet the soil is running short of the very nutrient they add, a study released on Monday has found. Punjab, which leans hardest on nitrogen, is the most exposed.

Of soil samples tested across India, 97 per cent are low in nitrogen and 85 per cent low in organic carbon, even though nitrogen is overused, says “The Economics of Cultivation”, a paper by Delhi-based research group Climate Trends. Fertiliser also gives back less. In 1970, one kg grew 13.4 kg of grain. By 2015, it grew just 2.7 kg.

For every kg of potash, Punjab farmers use 21 kg of nitrogen. The national average is 5 kg. Haryana is next at 20 kg.

The study does not blame farmers. It says a decade-old pricing rule keeps nitrogen artificially cheap, so farmers use more. The country pays the price through a subsidy bill that swings with global gas prices, tired soil and spoilt groundwater.

For wheat, once damage to soil, water and air and the cost to the government were added, the gain to the country was 36 to 182 per cent lower than the farmer’s own profit. In two of five cases, the country lost money.

“The excessive dependence on chemical fertilizers comes at a far greater cost to the nation than what is reflected in their market prices or subsidy allocations,” said Dr Palak Balyan, the study’s lead author.

Warning signs in water

The study notes that nitrate above the safe drinking-water limit has been recorded in Punjab’s groundwater. The Central Ground Water Board’s 2024 water quality report found 12.58 per cent of Punjab’s samples above the limit. In Bathinda, 46 per cent failed, making it one of India’s 15 worst-hit districts. The board says nitrate is a particular worry in farm areas that use a lot of nitrogen fertiliser and animal waste.

Punjab also pays more. In 2021-22, the government spent ₹6,283 a hectare on fertiliser subsidy in Punjab, against ₹3,630 nationally. When global prices spiked in 2022-23, Punjab’s figure more than doubled to ₹14,072.

Hormuz shock

The Strait of Hormuz carries about a third of the world’s fertiliser trade by sea. When it effectively closed in February, urea prices jumped 53.7 per cent in a month. Gas supply to Indian fertiliser plants was cut to 60 to 70 per cent of normal, and urea output fell by 0.8 million tonnes in March alone. India avoided a shortage only by using up stocks and adding fresh supplies, and the government paid the full bill.

“India’s fertiliser challenge is as much an energy security issue as it is an agricultural one,” said Shreya Jai, Energy Lead at Climate Trends. Founder-Director Aarti Khosla called for wiser use and a slow shift to organic inputs, “rather than seeking to eliminate fertilizer use altogether”.

A way out that pays

A trial at ICAR-IIFSR in Modipuram replaced 50 to 75 per cent of chemical inputs with organic ones. Those plots matched fully organic yields and earned ₹53,200 more per hectare than chemical plots.

Organic produce sells for more. Global data shows organic farms earn 22 to 35 per cent more profit even with lower yields. The catch: costs start on day one, but the better price comes only after two to three years of certification.

Pace matters, the study says. Andhra Pradesh’s natural farms earn over twice the profit of chemical farms. Sikkim spent little on training farmers, and most saw yields fall. Sri Lanka’s sudden 2021 ban shows the cost of rushing.

What the study wants

Paying farmers per hectare to cut chemicals would cost less than the subsidy’s hidden damage, the study says. Every million hectares of rice moved to fewer chemicals would save ₹1,155 crore a year.

The study also wants:

– urea subsidised by nutrient, not by bag

– part of the subsidy tied to Soil Health Card advice

– a fixed base year for PM-PRANAM, the scheme that rewards states for cutting chemical fertiliser

– one department for both fertiliser prices and soil health

“This transition cannot be left entirely to farmers to navigate on their own,” Balyan said.