Fertiliser Sales Decline in India’s Border Districts

A government analysis shows that fertiliser sales in some of the country’s border districts recorded a sharp decline of 37.56% between the Kharif seasons of 2025 and 2026.

This decline came after the introduction of measures to link fertiliser sales through AgriStack and other platforms with farmers’ IDs, crop requirements and land records.

The data also suggest that fertilisers, particularly urea, may have been smuggled from India to neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar, possibly because of substantial price differences.

The significant price gap between technical-grade urea (TGU), sold in India for industrial use, and agricultural urea also creates incentives for the industrial use of fertiliser-grade urea.

Urea sold for agricultural use in India is heavily subsidised, with a 45-kg bag costing around ₹265. However, at the global price of $392 per tonne in September 2026, a 45-kg bag would cost approximately ₹1,700. In May 2026, its price, including import costs, had risen to $950 per tonne.

The data show that after fertiliser sales were linked to AgriStack and other related platforms, sales declined by as much as 17.35% in some border districts of Meghalaya. In the border districts of Tripura, the decline reached 81.42%. Both states share a border with Bangladesh. Declines were also recorded in Assam (59.65%), Bihar (28.61%), Himachal Pradesh (18.31%), Jammu and Kashmir (23.92%) and West Bengal (37.63%).

AgriStack is a farmer-centric digital public infrastructure (DPI) framework developed by the Ministry of Agriculture. It provides comprehensive information about farmers, including their personal details, land records, crops grown and assets associated with activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries.

AgriStack comprises three foundational registries for the agricultural sector: the Farmers’ Registry, geo-referenced village maps and the Sown Crop Registry. To generate farmer IDs, farmers’ information is linked with their digital land records. As of 30 July 2026, approximately 10.28 crore farmer IDs had been generated against a total target of 11 crore.

When these figures are considered alongside the programme’s expanding reach among farmers, they suggest that the Framework for Fertiliser Sales (FFS) is helping make fertilisers available to more farmers while curbing their use for non-agricultural purposes. Sources said farmers have found the FFS system useful, transparent and empowering.

Under the FFS framework, verified information about farmers, their landholdings, crops and fertiliser requirements is linked before fertiliser is booked and sold. This helps reduce the risk of fertilisers being diverted to other destinations.

The FFS, or Framework for Fertiliser Sales, links verified farmers with their landholdings, crops and fertiliser requirements before booking and sales take place. This helps prevent the misuse of fertilisers at the initial stage. Through an integrated mobile- and web-based IT platform, it connects AgriStack farmer IDs or state-level farmer ID cards with the IFMS.

Under this system, AgriStack farmer IDs or state-level farmer identification cards have been integrated with the Integrated Fertiliser Management System (IFMS). An integrated IT platform has been developed for this purpose and can be accessed through mobile devices and a website.

IFMS is India’s digital fertiliser management system, operated by the Union Government’s Department of Fertilisers. It integrates key fertiliser-related functions, including production, imports, transportation, stock availability, retail sales and subsidy processing.

According to government records, the FFS is currently being implemented on a pilot basis in around 268 districts across 30 states. The initiative was initially launched as a pilot project in two districts of each state, with plans for gradual expansion.

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