Short Overview 

India has achieved food surplus and global leadership in grain production, yet millions still suffer from malnutrition. This contradiction is deeply linked to declining soil health. Fertiliser pricing reforms, along with precise and site-specific nutrient management, are now critical to restore soil vitality, improve food quality, and protect public health.

India needs urgent fertiliser pricing reforms to restore soil health, improve crop nutrition, and fight hidden hunger. This in-depth blog explains how rational fertiliser pricing, soil-specific nutrient management, and farmer-centric policies can revive soil fertility, boost food quality, and strengthen India’s long-term agricultural and public health outcomes.

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Table of Content 

1. This section explains why India’s agricultural success is facing a silent soil crisis.
2. This part explores how distorted fertiliser pricing damaged soil health over time.
3. This section discusses the link between soil nutrients, crop quality, and human nutrition.
4. This part explains the three-P framework of policy, products, and practices.
5. This section focuses on micronutrient deficiencies, especially zinc, and their consequences.
6. This part highlights why food security must shift from calories to nutrition quality.
7. This section explains how fertiliser pricing reforms can drive innovation and precision farming.
8. This final section concludes with the long-term vision for sustainable agriculture in India.

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India Needs Fertiliser Pricing Reforms to Restore Soil Health

India’s agricultural journey over the last six decades is often described as a success story. The country moved from chronic food shortages in the 1960s to becoming one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of foodgrains. However, beneath this success lies a silent crisis that threatens both farming sustainability and public health, and that crisis is declining soil health.

India supports nearly seventeen percent of the global population on just about two and a half percent of the world’s land. To achieve food self-sufficiency under such pressure, farming systems became heavily dependent on chemical fertilisers, particularly nitrogen-based ones. While this helped raise yields rapidly, it also created long-term imbalances in soil nutrients that are now showing serious consequences.

A recent policy paper released as part of a brief by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations argues that India urgently needs fertiliser pricing reforms to restore soil health. The paper highlights that without correcting price distortions and encouraging precise nutrient use, India risks weakening its food system from the ground up.

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How Fertiliser Pricing Distorted Soil Health in India

For decades, fertiliser subsidies in India have heavily favoured urea, making nitrogen far cheaper than phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients. This pricing imbalance pushed farmers toward excessive use of nitrogen while ignoring other essential nutrients. Over time, soils became chemically exhausted, biologically weak, and physically degraded.

Healthy soil is a living system that requires balanced nourishment. When only one nutrient is applied repeatedly, soil microorganisms decline, organic matter reduces, and nutrient absorption efficiency drops. Many Indian soils today show alarming deficiencies of zinc, iron, sulfur, and boron, even though crop yields may appear stable in the short term.

The policy brief stresses that rational fertiliser pricing is not about removing support to farmers but about redesigning it. Targeted subsidies, linked to soil diagnostics and crop needs, can guide farmers toward balanced fertilisation rather than indiscriminate chemical use.

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Soil Health, Crop Quality, and Human Nutrition Are Directly Connected

Food security in India has long been measured by calorie availability. Yet calories alone cannot ensure healthy lives. Despite surplus food production and wide coverage of welfare schemes like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, malnutrition remains widespread.

Data from National Family Health Survey shows that a significant proportion of Indian children are stunted, underweight, or wasted. This paradox exists because crops grown on nutrient-deficient soils produce food that fills stomachs but fails to nourish bodies adequately.

Micronutrients present in soil directly influence the nutrient density of food. When soils lack zinc, iron, or other trace elements, crops absorb less of these nutrients, and the deficiency passes on to humans through diets dominated by staples like rice and wheat.

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Why Micronutrient Deficiency Is a Silent Threat

Zinc deficiency is one of the clearest examples of how soil health affects human development. Low zinc levels in soil reduce zinc concentration in cereals, which are the primary food source for millions of Indians. Zinc deficiency in children is strongly associated with stunting, weak immunity, and impaired cognitive development.

This form of malnutrition is often called “hidden hunger” because it is not visible like starvation but causes lifelong damage. Addressing it requires looking beyond food quantity and focusing on the quality of nutrients entering the food chain, starting from the soil.

The policy paper emphasizes that restoring soil micronutrients is as important as boosting yields. Without this shift, India’s impressive agricultural output will continue to coexist with poor nutrition outcomes.

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The Three-P Framework: Policy, Products, and Practices

The authors of the paper propose a paradigm shift built on three interconnected pillars: policy, products, and practices. Policy reform must begin with rational fertiliser pricing that reflects nutrient value rather than political convenience. When prices signal the true importance of balanced nutrients, farmers are more likely to adopt better fertilisation strategies.

Products refer to the development of customised, site-specific fertilisers designed according to soil type, crop requirement, and regional conditions. Advances in soil diagnostics and agronomic research make this possible, but adoption will remain slow unless pricing policies support these innovations.

Practices involve educating farmers on integrated nutrient management, combining chemical fertilisers with organic inputs, crop rotation, and improved agronomic methods. When these practices work together with supportive policies and better products, soil health can gradually be restored.

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Why Fertiliser Pricing Reforms Can Drive Innovation

A shift toward rational fertiliser pricing can unlock private and public investment in research and development. When markets reward efficiency rather than volume, companies and research institutions are encouraged to create smarter nutrient solutions that improve both productivity and sustainability.

Site-specific nutrient management allows farmers to apply exactly what the soil and crop need, reducing waste, lowering costs, and protecting the environment. Over time, healthier soils lead to stronger crops, better resistance to pests and climate stress, and improved nutritional content of food.

This transformation also supports India’s long-term economic and public health goals. Healthy soils reduce dependence on excessive subsidies, improve farmer incomes, and lower healthcare costs linked to malnutrition.

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From Calorie Security to Nutrition Security

India’s agricultural policies must now evolve from a calorie-centric mindset to a nutrition-centric one. Food systems should aim not only to feed the population but to nourish it. Soil health lies at the foundation of this transition.

As the paper rightly states, only when soils are adequately nourished can they consistently produce food that sustains health rather than merely alleviates hunger. This makes soil restoration not just an agricultural necessity but a national development priority.

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Conclusion: Restoring Soil Health Is India’s Future Imperative

India stands at a crucial crossroads. The achievements of the past must now be protected by correcting the imbalances they created. Fertiliser pricing reforms, combined with targeted farmer support, precise nutrient solutions, and improved agronomic practices, offer a clear path forward.

Restoring soil health will improve crop quality, strengthen nutrition security, and safeguard the well-being of future generations. It is an investment not only in agriculture but in India’s long-term human capital, economic resilience, and sustainable development.