Bengaluru, May 18: The Karnataka Agriculture Ministry announced on Monday that the initial stock of urea fertilizer this year is significantly lower compared to previous years. The ministry reported that the initial stock was 391,000 metric tons in 2023, 541,000 metric tons in 2024, and 346,000 metric tons in 2025. However, only 280,000 metric tons are available this year.
The Agriculture Minister stated that ongoing crises in the Middle East have caused instability in the global supply of fertilizers and raw materials essential for fertilizer production, such as ammonia, liquefied natural gas, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid. As a result, the supply of fertilizers during the 2026 monsoon season in the state is likely to be affected, potentially disrupting availability across Karnataka.
He further noted that the central government has not allocated urea and diammonium phosphate fertilizers in proportion to demand. This discrepancy raises concerns about a potential fertilizer shortage during the monsoon crop season. For the current monsoon season, the central government has allocated a total of 3.005 million metric tons of various fertilizers, including 1.11 million metric tons of urea, 400,000 metric tons of diammonium phosphate, 212,000 metric tons of muriate of potash, 1.188 million metric tons of complex fertilizers, and 95,000 metric tons of single super phosphate.
The minister emphasized that the central government allocated and supplied all fertilizers, including urea, without considering the available initial stock based on demand. Consequently, there is currently no shortage of any type of fertilizer in the state. In April, against a demand of 402,000 metric tons of various fertilizers, the central government supplied only 254,000 metric tons, resulting in a shortfall of 148,000 metric tons.
He reported a specific shortage of 38,000 metric tons of diammonium phosphate and 14,000 metric tons of urea. Similarly, in May, the demand for various grades of fertilizers reached 454,000 metric tons, while the central government supplied only 177,000 metric tons, leaving a remaining supply of 277,000 metric tons. The pending quantities primarily include 65,000 metric tons of urea and 78,000 metric tons of diammonium phosphate.
Since April, the total demand for various grades of fertilizers has been 857,000 metric tons, of which only 431,000 metric tons have been supplied, leaving 425,000 metric tons still pending.
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