Indian Agriculture's Growing Dependence on Fossil Fuels

Indian agriculture was not always dependent on fossil fuels. In 1950-51, farming ran mostly on bullock power and farmyard manure. Chemical fertilizer use was negligible at that time. This changed with the Green Revolution of the mid-1960s. The government pushed high-yielding seed varieties along with chemical fertilizers and mechanised irrigation. These changes raised foodgrain output sharply. A Green Revolution is the term for this shift to high-yield seeds, irrigation and chemical inputs that sharply raised grain output. Since then, tractors, pump sets and chemical fertilizers have replaced bullocks and organic manure as the backbone of Indian farming.

To keep fertilizer affordable for farmers, the government has long given a fertilizer subsidy. This is a payment that keeps the farmer's price well below the actual cost of production. This subsidy has kept urea (46% nitrogen content) artificially cheap. It is cheap compared to phosphatic and potassic fertilizers. This encourages farmers to over-use urea. As a result, the ideal nutrient ratio has changed. The recommended ratio for most Indian soils is close to 4:2:1 for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Actual use has drifted sharply toward excess nitrogen in recent years.

This imbalance matters because both urea and phosphatic fertilizers need fossil fuel inputs. Ammonia, the key input for urea, is manufactured from natural gas. Sulphur, needed to make phosphatic fertilizers like DAP and SSP, is a byproduct of oil refining and natural gas processing. This is why Indian agriculture, despite appearing to be a land-based activity, is now structurally tied to global energy markets.

Neem coating on urea slows its dissolution in soil. This reduces nitrogen losses and greenhouse gas emissions. It controls the rate at which urea becomes available to microorganisms. Organic matter in soil increases its water holding capacity. High organic content improves water retention rather than reducing it.