Agriculture

Urea and phosphatic fertilizer supplies 'remain adequate' for the kharif season, says Fertilizer Association of India. The sector needs imported Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to make urea, and much of the LNG comes from West Asia. Now, it seems hard to ignore how geopolitical tensions there could still affect supply chains.

FAI stated on Monday, March 10, 2026, that current inventories and supply plans should cover demand. Global issues might cause disruptions - but right now, stock levels appear enough.

Why would anyone think shortages will hit? The system has been stable so far. Still, with trade routes unstable in parts of west Asia, the risk isn't fully gone.

The FAI said they are working closely with the Central Government, State Governments and other stakeholders to “ensure smooth distribution of fertilizers across regions”. “Production planning, imports and logistics are being actively coordinated to maintain adequate availability during the upcoming cropping season,” it said.

Kharif season in India is expected to begin in June, and India is currently entering the agricultural lean season. “During this phase, fertilizer consumption typically remains moderate, allowing the industry to replenish inventories and undertake routine maintenance operations at production facilities,” the statement said.

In the first ten months of the year, India has reported higher fertilizer production and imports of Urea, DAP, Complex, SSP and MOP — moving from 57 million tons last year to 65 million tons in FY25-26, the spokesperson added.

“With consistent production of Urea, DAP and NPKs and timely imports, India currently holds adequate inventory of key nutrients to ensure that farm-level demand can be met without disruption. DAP & NPK inventories have gone up by 70-80% over last year corresponding period, giving adequate comfort to manage the temporary disruption in any supplies from Middle East,” it said.

The fertilizer sector requires imported Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) for the production of urea, with significant supplies of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) coming from West Asia. “The current disruption has impacted gas supplies, and the industry is working closely with the Government for prioritising gas allocation for Urea production. With some plants under annual maintenance, industry is optimizing gas allocation to ensure sufficient supply of Urea for the ensuing season,” the statement read.

“In case of phosphatics fertilizers, India has diversified supplies and long-term arrangements, and is sourcing from nations such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Belarus, which partially offsets supply disruption risks from one region.

“Indian fertilizer companies viz IPL, Coromandel, PPL have long term supply arrangements with global producers. These companies often secure annual or multi-year contracts for phosphoric acid, ammonia, and rock phosphate, which can help stabilise supplies in the short term. However, the current geopolitical disturbances can impact prices of these key raw materials like Sulphur and Ammonia and industry will be working closely with the Government for ensuring that Nutrient based Subsidy rates for the kharif season adequately factors spurt in raw material prices and exchange rate,” the spokesperson said in the statement.

Chennai is organizing a weekend bazaar wherein visitors will have the opportunity to interact with organic farmers and understand the journey of food from farm to table. Approximately ten local farmers will be present, displaying their produce and informing the public about their organic farming techniques. The re-Store, a nonprofit organization that advocates for organic food access, has backed the event. People may have the chance to discuss planting seasons or how pests are dealt with without the use of chemicals - aspects that are usually not mentioned at regular markets.

Radhika Rammohan, one of the co-founders, explains the intention is to let the public see the extent of work involved in organic farming. She thinks that interacting with farmers enables families to realize why seasonal foods are more flavorful and why sustainability is important. Therefore, it goes beyond mere acquisition of knowledge, it is also about developing a relationship with the land and the people who nurture it. Handling fresh vegetables, selecting from an actual garden, really makes one conscious of the source of one's meals.

Visitors could learn about soil health, crop rotation, or labor challenges in chemical-free agriculture. These conversations tend to go deeper than typical store interactions. The bazaar isn't selling products - it's building trust between buyers and growers through direct contact.

Besides the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, the eco bazaar introduces an assortment of activities and items revolving around sustainable living. Craft workshops for kids and parents such as palm leaf craft, block printing, coconut shell art and other hands-on sessions will be made available on a first come first serve basis through registration.

These sessions intend to keep alive the skills of tradition while encouraging one's imagination and love for nature.

Various eco-friendly house decors and lifestyle products such as terracotta products, earthen pots, palm leaf crafts, and handloom wear will also be on sale at the market.A repair caf on-site will let people fix or alter their clothes, showing how reuse works instead of buying new things, this at least in theory supports long-term sustainability.

Compost seeds, potting soils, panchakavyam, and basic gardening tools will be on display for those who enjoy growing plants. The food lineup features heritage grains, sweets with karupatti (palm jaggery), and natural drinks like padhaneer (fresh palm nectar) and elaneer (tender coconut water). It's meant to introduce younger people to traditional meals that are healthier.

Climate variability increasingly threatens farm output and therefore top agricultural scientists in India have demanded immediate switching to climate-smart farming methods in order to sustain food supply systems.

This discussion was held during the national seminar on Climate Change and Food Systems jointly organised by Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University and Bihar Agricultural Science Academy at Pusa, Samastipur district of Bihar.

They explained that factors such as rising temperature, erratic rainfall and storms lead to decrease in agricultural production in a very direct manner and consequently, they pose a threat to food security in the coming years

Deputy Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) S N Jha, the keynote speaker, pointed out that climate-resilient technologies must be developed quickly and their use must be spread widely.

Since climate change poses a direct threat to global food security, we need to focus on innovations that give us immunity against the fluctuations in food supply, said Jha, quoting the necessity for agricultural practices that can tackle the effects of climate change in India.

Innovation and Sustainability at the Core

During his talk, vice-chancellor P S Pandey highlighted the binary challenge of declining productivity at the same time of rising food demand. He considered innovation in cropping, water management, and post-harvest systems as being the most important ways to keep up agricultural production.

Presenting the matter from the point of view of a global policy, Anjani Kumar Singh, senior fellow of the International Food Policy Research Institute, on the one hand, called for a holistic approach, on the other, putting together climate-resilient crop varieties, efficient irrigation practices, and sustainable farming methods. Regarding effectiveness, he said policy needs to be very tightly in accord with the reality on the ground first.

Roadmap for Eastern India

This seminar was a meeting point for researchers, policymakers, and industry players in the final discussion, they created a list of practical recommendations. These should be the work of future policies aimed at deepening the climate-resilient agriculture of eastern India, a region which is highly vulnerable to climate changes.

Scientists welcomed the fact that the results will be very helpful to the preparation of the long-term plan for sustainable farming which will offer food security to millions, at the same time, it will introduce climate change adaptation measures.

If the first Green Revolution was powered by irrigation and fertilisers, India’s next agricultural leap is being shaped by genomics, gene editing, and indigenous innovation. At the centre of this transformation is a quiet but powerful development from the ICAR-National Rice Research Institute—a homegrown gene-editing tool that could redefine crop science.

Developed by Dr. Kutubuddin Ali Molla, TnpB is being described as India’s answer to CRISPR-Cas9. Unlike the widely used CRISPR system--patented worldwide and often costly to implement--TnpB is not only smaller and more accurate but also, most importantly, without patent restrictions. Being about one-third the size of Cas9, it not only facilitates the entry of the protein into the plant cells but also makes it possible to perform multiplex gene editing, which means modifying several traits simultaneously.

This can be a game-changer for Indian agriculture. It is well-known that complex traits like drought tolerance, pest resistance, and high yield are controlled by multiple genes, rather than a single one. Therefore, the potential to edit several genes at the same time could pave the way for a quicker development of climate-resilient crops, a pressing need for a country like India that is facing various forms of climate change.

India, for one, has shown its commitment by approving the commercial release of genome-edited rice varieties in 2025. In contrast to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), these crops are not transgenic as they do not contain foreign DNA. This is why they are able to circumvent the regulatory barriers and public apprehensions typically associated with GM technology.

The broader vision extends beyond rice.Scientists are adapting similar approaches to legumes and oilseeds, two areas where India still depends largely on imports from abroad. Increasing production within the country of these two categories can greatly lessen import dependence.

The reason why 2026 could be a turning point is that policy, science, and the ability to scale all come together at the same time. India's regulatory environments are getting friendlier, it has native technologies like TnpB, and at the same time public-private partnerships are on the increase. So, India is planting seeds for an agricultural innovation environment that can be maintained even after the initial burst of creativity.

It is indeed a new way of looking at things - agriculture will cease to be merely increasing the quantity of produce but will also focus on increasing the quality smartly. The food system in India from a tiny touch of genome editing right up to the moment of the preparation of cooked rice is undergoing a transition.

And for the first time, the distance between the laboratory and the kitchen is rapidly disappearing.

The Locavore along with Doc Society Climate Story Unit has developed a new multimedia storytelling tool, the Woman Farmer Project to document and amplify the voices of women farmers all over India.By reinforcing the UN declaration of the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, the project intends to locate women's labour and knowledge as the key elements of discussions on food systems, climate change, and rural livelihoods. It identifies women as the primary hands in land plowing, seed storing, animal husbandry, and informal market participation; however it also recognizes that they are seldom portrayed in dominant narratives.

The project is a joint venture, engaging writers, grassroots organizations, and community networks in the production and dissemination of stories which accurately depict the reality of life. Besides that, it is committed to the principles of giving voice to and supporting the protagonists of the stories, not only enabling them to tell their story but also putting them in the driver seat to leading the framing of their narratives.

As a part of this project, a fellowship on a four-month full-time basis will be available from May to August 2026 to young Indian women (18-29 years old) interested in journalism filmmaking research, and cultural documentation. Those chosen as fellows will be taken into the field for immersive work in three regions - Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh, where they will get the chance to interact with local communities and partner organisations.

Only six fellows will be chosen, of which three will be audio-visual storytellers and three will be writer-researchers, each one geographically assigned. The programme will offer participants training, mentorship, and the necessary resources to produce multi-format outputs such as reported stories, short films, and photo essays in multiple languages.

The organisers believe that the project is very well-positioned to go beyond just generating effective climate and agriculture narratives. It is also capable of devising a viable model of community-led storytelling that gives voice to the community and is based on principles of consent, accountability, and long-term engagement.

Rice in India is not only a food for millions of people; it is a habit, culture and means of survival. However, India's staple, which is the main cause of diabetes and malnutrition in the country, has been nutritionally paradoxical for a long time: it is rich in calories but poor in proteins. At CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, a team of scientists has made a breakthrough to change this paradox by re-engineering the grain.

Led by food technologists, the institute has developed what is now being called “designer rice”—a reconstructed grain containing over 20% protein, nearly three times that of conventional polished rice. More significantly, it carries a low Glycaemic Index (below 55), making it suitable for India’s growing diabetic population, currently estimated at over 100 million.

But the innovation goes beyond protein and sugar control. Thanks to microencapsulation techniques, scientists were able to wrap iron, folic acid, and Vitamin B12 in micro-sized shells inside the cereal. As if wrapped in protective microscopic shells, these nutrients will not be lost through washing or pressure cooking - which are traditionally the two processes by which fortified foods lose their nutrients.

The method is very straightforward and yet highly effective. Broken ricegenerally regarded as a "waste" productgets converted to flour, the flour's starch content is equalized, and finally the flour is turned by extrusion into grains that look, feel, and taste like normal rice. This product does not require any change in consumers' behaviour and at the same time provides much better nutrition.

Most importantly, it is not genetic modification. It avoids all the regulations and public objections that genetically modified crops usually face, making it a food technology innovation rather than a biotechnology one.

Technology transfer to industry players is already underway, and there is a plan to integrate the grain in Indias Public Distribution System (PDS) by 2027, so that means the implications are very large. In the event of an effective scale-up, designer rice might well turn into a major element in the fight against hidden hunger a situation when people consume enough calories yet their nutritional requirements are not met. Basically, India could have discovered a new method to add value to its

cultivated staple foodgrain in doing so not necessarily requiring its populace to change their eating patterns.