As the government rushes to stockpile fertilisers ahead of the ensuing kharif season, amid global supply and shipping disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict, it now faces another major challenge: the sale of substandard inputs. Fertiliser samples were found “non-standard” in Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s parliamentary constituency, Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, during the current rabi season (2025-26), shows documents accessed by The Indian Express.
The documents show that samples of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and ammonium phosphate sulphate (APS), both manufactured by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), a multi-state cooperative society engaged in the manufacture and marketing of fertilisers, were found “non-standard” in Vidisha in January this year. Following this, the authorities ordered IFFCO to “immediately” stop the sale of the fertiliser lot and the batch of which samples failed.
The DAP (18-46-0), which consists of granular nitrogen (18 per cent) and phosphorus (46 per cent), is widely used by farmers at sowing time because it helps seed germination. At the time of sowing for the current rabi season, district officials in Vidisha collected a sample of IFFCO’s DAP from Ganj Basoda on December 20, 2025, and sent it for chemical analysis at the Fertiliser Quality Control Laboratory in Bhopal.
“The sample is not according to specification and found non-standard and fail…,” remarked the assistant chemical specialist at the Bhopal-based Fertiliser Quality Control Lab, in the testing report dated January 12, 2026.
As per the report, IFFCO’s DAP sample contained only 16.73 per cent nitrogen, below the norm of 18 per cent, and 42.17 per cent phosphorus, below the specified value of 46 per cent.
Immediate halt on distribution
Days after the testing report was released, Vidisha’s Deputy Director of Agriculture, K S Khapediya, issued an order on January 21 to immediately stop the sale and distribution of the lot and batch (01/Nov 2025) of DAP, a sample of which was found non-standard.
“Immediately stop the distribution of the aforementioned fertilizer lot/batch, and immediately provide details regarding which fertilizer dealers in the district were supplied with said fertilizer, and in what quantities,” Khapedia wrote in the order issued under the Fertiliser (Control) Order (FCO), 1985.
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Not only DAP, but also a sample of IFFCO’s APS (20:20:0:13), which contains nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S), was found non-standard. Farmers use the APS for crops such as oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, paddy, and cotton. The officials collected a sample of APS from the Vidisha block on December 1 last year and sent it to the Fertiliser Quality Control Lab in Gwalior for examination.
In its report, the laboratory noted that the available phosphorus content was lower (18.34 per cent) than the specified value of 20 per cent. Similarly, the sulfur content was also found to be lower (11.43 per cent) than the specified value of 13 per cent.
The IFFCO did not respond to an email seeking its comments on the development.
Deficiencies in TSP
The documents also show that a sample of triple super phosphate (TSP), manufactured by Indian Potash Limited (IPL), was found non-standard. TSP, which contains 46 per cent phosphate, is used to correct phosphorus deficiencies and promote rapid root development, flowering, and fruiting.
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The officials collected a TSP sample from the Sironj block in Vidisha on December 24 last year. They sent it to the Bhopal-based Fertiliser Quality Control Lab for testing, where it was found that the fertiliser contained only 40.13 per cent phosphorus against the specified value of 46 per cent. The officials issued an order in January and asked the company to immediately stop the sale of the fertiliser lot and the batch that was found non-standard.
Chouhan’s concerns over substandard inputs
In recent months, Agriculture Minister Chouhan has expressed concerns over the sale of substandard agricultural inputs. The Agriculture Ministry has asked farmers to immediately report to the helpline centre (phone: 18000-180-1551) if anyone tries to sell them fake agricultural inputs, including seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides.
The failure of sample key fertilisers is significant, as the government has been rushing to stockpile fertilisers to meet demand during the ensuing kharif season, amid disruptions in the global supply chain and shipping due to the West Asia conflict. However, the Centre has maintained that adequate fertiliser stock is available for the upcoming kharif season 2026.
“Overall, fertilisers as of today (April 15) are 184 lakh tonnes as compared to 160 lakh tonnes last year,” said an official earlier this month.
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In the 2025 Kharif season, the government had pegged the requirements for urea at 185.39 lakh tonnes, DAP at 56.99 lakh tonnes, muriate of potash (MOP) at 11.13 lakh tonnes, and NPKS at 76.11 lakh tonnes.
India’s import dependency
India relies on imports to meet its fertiliser requirements. It is also heavily dependent on imports of key raw materials for fertiliser production due to limited domestic reserves. This includes intermediates such as phosphoric acid, rock phosphate, sulphur, ammonia and muriate of potash for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers, as well as natural gas for urea production.
For instance, India met 86 per cent of its rock phosphate requirements through imports during 2024-25. The share of imports in the requirements for sulphur stood at 52 per cent, natural gas for the urea sector at 78 per cent, ammonia for complex fertilisers at 75 per cent, phosphoric acid at 52 per cent, and MOP at 100 per cent.
