India's soil nutrient ratio improves marginally, but can it hold the line?

The main culprit for the degradation of the nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium ratio is the overuse of urea as a main fertiliser because of its low price, which has been static for almost a decade

Last week, senior scientists at a Global Conference on Soil presented some alarming findings about India. As per their analysis, almost 90 per cent of India’s land is deficient in nitrogen, 90 per cent in phosphorus and 50 per cent in potassium. The analysis was based on a mapping of the country’s soil health. 

 

They also shared another important, more optimistic, figure: the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) in the soil, all three of which are critical ingredients for plant growth. According to the numbers they presented, between 2019 and 2023, the average NPK ratio in Indian soil