Haryana urea consumption exceeds 21% of kharif target despite govt push to cut fertiliser use

The figures show Haryana ranked fifth in the country in terms of urea requirement during kharif 2026, while Punjab with 11.93 LMT ranked second, behind only Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers in Haryana continue to depend heavily on highly subsidised urea, with its consumption during the ongoing kharif season already exceeding the projected requirement.

According to the latest data tabled by the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in the Lok Sabha, the direct benefit transfer (DBT) sale of urea in Haryana remained at 7.17 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) between April 1 and July 19, against the state’s estimated seasonal requirement of 5.93 LMT, registering an increase of nearly 21% over the projected demand. Whereas the overall fertiliser purchase in Haryana during this kharif season remains 8.61 LMT.

The figures show Haryana ranked fifth in the country in terms of urea requirement during kharif 2026, while Punjab with 11.93 LMT ranked second, behind only Uttar Pradesh.

The data underlines Haryana’s continued dependence on urea, which accounted for more than 83% of the state’s total fertiliser consumption. Whereas, the consumption of other nutrients remained below estimates, with DAP sales at 1.15 LMT against a requirement of 1.23 LMT, MOP at 0.13 LMT against 0.37 LMT, and NPK fertilisers at 0.16 LMT against 0.29 LMT.

The figures reinforce concerns among agricultural scientists that Haryana’s fertiliser application continues to remain skewed towards subsidised urea at the cost of balanced nutrient use.

The state accounted for around 5.3% of India’s fertiliser sales despite contributing only about 3.9% of the national requirement. Haryana produced only 5.51 LMT of urea during 2025-26, only marginally higher than 5.12 LMT produced in 2014-15.

The Haryana government has taken several initiatives to cut use of fertilisers as the state agriculture department has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it has significantly reduced fertiliser use through stricter monitoring and policy interventions.

According to an affidavit filed before the tribunal, the agriculture and farmers welfare department claimed that the state saved 1,26,938 metric tonnes of fertilisers in the last rabi season between October 8, 2025 and April 17, 2026, compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

The officials said that the government was considering fixing per-acre entitlement limits for urea and DAP to curb indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers.