‘Fertilizer consumption falls by 35,000 tonnes’

Metro India News | Hyderabad : Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Tuesday asserted that fertilizer distribution during the Kharif season was successfully managed across Telangana, with improved stock availability and digital monitoring helping prevent shortages, hoarding and black marketing.

Tummala said the government had pre-positioned fertilizer stocks ahead of the Kharif season and appointed special officers at ports to coordinate with the Centre on imports and ensure speedy transportation to the State. Telangana effectively implemented the Central Government’s fertilizer app to monitor stocks, bookings and purchases in real time. The State’s Urea App had earlier helped to curb illegal hoarding and black marketing, paving the way for the Centre to introduce the National Fertilizer App on a wider scale, he added.

For Kharif 2026, 33.39 lakh farmers registered through the App and booked 142.08 lakh bags of fertilizers, of which 128.18 lakh bags were purchased. Through the Central Government’s Fertilizer Facilitation System, 37.48 lakh QR codes were generated and 141.88 lakh bags were booked, with farmers purchasing 104.99 lakh bags, he noted.

Comparing fertilizer consumption, Tummala said urea purchases stood at 9.66 lakh tonnes in Kharif 2024-25, 9.79 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 and 9.44 lakh tonnes in Kharif 2026-27. The consumption of other fertilizers also varied during the period.

He said the app-based distribution had helped reduce urea consumption by 35,000 tonnes compared with the previous Kharif season, while also curbing black marketing and illegal hoarding.

The Minister said fertilizer stocks were currently comfortable, with 2.33 lakh tonnes of Urea available, compared with just 50,000 tonnes during the corresponding period last year.