West Asia crisis opens space for fertiliser policy reform

📌 Summary:

• Context: PM Modi's call to farmers to cut chemical fertiliser use by half and shift to natural farming; West Asia conflict + Strait of Hormuz closure threaten fertiliser imports
• Core argument: blanket appeals for "half fertiliser, more natural" are impractical, but the West Asia crisis is the right window to fix India's chronically distorted fertiliser policy
• Causal chain — why India is so exposed: (1) India has very little natural gas (urea feedstock), almost no rock phosphate, no potash, no elemental sulphur reserves → heavy import dependence (2) Up to 30% of global fertiliser trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz → closure disrupts physical availability (3) Subsidy policy historically encouraged high-analysis urea (46% N) and DAP (46% P) over balanced products like Ammonium Sulphate (20.5% N, 23% S) and Single Super Phosphate (16% P, 11% S) (4) High-analysis dominance has caused severe soil nutrient imbalance — secondary nutrients (S) and micronutrients neglected (5) Nutrient Use Efficiency is poor: only ~1/3 of urea N is absorbed by plants; rest lost via ammonia volatilisation or leaching as nitrate (groundwater pollution)
• Key data: ~30% of global fertiliser trade routed via Strait of Hormuz; urea N use efficiency ~33%; urea N content 46%, DAP P content 46%
• Solutions proposed by editorial: (1) Free or raise retail fertiliser prices to import parity levels (2) Replace product-wise subsidy with a per-acre direct payment (e.g. ₹5,000/acre) for all cultivating farmers (3) Combine fertiliser subsidy savings + PM-KISAN into one direct income support scheme
• Rationale: present subsidy + price-control system is both fiscally and physically unsustainable; reform "cannot wait any longer"

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — Agriculture (Subsidies & Issues, fertiliser policy reform); GS2 — Government welfare schemes (PM-KISAN, DBT); GS3 — Energy security & external sector vulnerability via West Asia/Strait of Hormuz

📝 Prelims Facts:

• N content: Urea 46%, Ammonium Sulphate 20.5%, DAP — N is 18%, P is 46% (P₂O₅)
• Sulphur in SSP — 11%; in Ammonium Sulphate — 23%
• Urea N use efficiency: ~33%
• Strait of Hormuz: ~30% of global fertiliser trade
• PM-KISAN: ₹6,000/year/farmer cash transfer (since 2019)
• NBS (Nutrient Based Subsidy) covers P&K fertilisers; urea remains under controlled MRP

🔑 Key Term: Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) — fraction of nutrient applied that is actually absorbed and utilised by the crop; for urea-N in India it is only about one-third, with the rest lost to ammonia volatilisation and nitrate leaching, creating both economic waste and environmental damage.