India’s Record Fertiliser Availability, Yet Farmers Queued for Days: What Went Wrong?
By Madhukar Pawar
20 January 2026, New Delhi: The Union Government claims that record availability of fertilisers was ensured in the country during 2024–25, and that farmers did not face any shortage throughout the year. According to official figures, while the estimated national requirement was 152.50 crore bags (72.204 million tonnes), as many as 176.79 crore bags (83.464 million tonnes) of fertilisers were made available—nearly 24 crore bags more than the requirement.
But the real question is not how much fertiliser was available on paper. The real question is: why did farmers still not get fertilisers on time? Why were they forced to wait for days and stand in long queues, sometimes overnight, outside fertiliser distribution centres?
When claims collide with ground reality
The government says Indian Railways prioritised fertiliser rakes, imported fertilisers were unloaded quickly at ports, and storage and distribution systems were strengthened. Regular review meetings with fertiliser companies and continuous monitoring were also claimed. If all these arrangements were truly effective, then why did farmers in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and many others have to struggle so hard to procure fertilisers?
Crisis in both Kharif and Rabi seasons
The reality is that farmers faced acute fertiliser shortages in both the Kharif and Rabi seasons. Reports of black marketing emerged from several regions, and many farmers were forced to buy fertilisers from private shops at inflated prices. Ironically, during the same period, both central and state governments kept repeating that “there is no shortage of fertilisers.”
Where does the problem lie?
If there was genuinely no shortage, why was there a delay in delivering fertilisers to farmers? This contradiction clearly indicates that the problem was not in production or imports, but in the transport, storage and distribution system. If fertilisers were available in excess of demand, why was there negligence in ensuring timely delivery to every district and block?
Why was accountability not fixed?
Is it not administrative apathy when fertilisers remained stocked in warehouses while farmers struggled to get them during sowing time? Farmers bore the biggest burden of this mismanagement. In districts where shortages persisted and fertilisers were not supplied on time, accountability should have been fixed on concerned officials. Instead, as has often happened, this systemic failure was buried under impressive statistics.
Farmers still in queues in the age of technology
The government talks about digital portals, modern communication tools and artificial intelligence, yet the ground reality is that farmers are still forced to stand in queues for fertilisers. If, even in this era of technology, farmers have to run from pillar to post for basic agricultural inputs, it raises serious questions about the entire system.
What is the solution?
The solution does not lie in making new claims, but in implementing a demand-based distribution system, ensuring mandatory minimum stocks at district and block levels, and making fertiliser distribution data publicly available. Cooperative societies and FPOs must be strengthened, and effective checks must be placed on private profiteering. Most importantly, government claims must be proven true at the field level.
The final question
Farmers must be assured that they will not have to stand in humiliating queues for fertilisers during sowing time. Until “record availability” of fertilisers actually reaches farmers on time, such claims will remain achievements confined to government paperwork. Both central and state governments must now conduct a comprehensive review of fertiliser availability, demand, transport, storage and distribution, and rectify past shortcomings—so that in the coming Kharif and Rabi seasons, farmers receive fertilisers as per their requirement and exactly when they need them.
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