Fertilizer Flying Squads to Combat Diversion of Agriculture-Grade Urea

The government has initiated a countrywide crackdown to prevent the misuse of agriculture-grade urea for industrial purposes, which leads to a loss of subsidies.

The Department of Fertilizers, Government of India, under the guidance of Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, has implemented several measures to prevent malpractices and ensure that farmers receive quality fertilizers. As a result of these efforts, the diversion and black marketing of fertilizers in the country have been prevented.

As part of this effort, the government has set up "fertilizer flying squads" which have carried out over 370 surprise inspections across 15 states to closely monitor and prevent the diversion, black market trading, hoarding, and distribution of low-quality fertilizers throughout the entire country.

As a result of the crackdown, 30 First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed and 112 mixture manufacturers were deauthorized due to procedural and documentation irregularities.

According to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, their Fertilizer Flying Squads (FFS) conducted more than 370 sudden inspections across 15 states and Union Territories. During these inspections, the teams discovered instances of urea diversion and confiscated approximately 70,000 bags of fertilizer that were suspected to be counterfeit.

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The government provides farmers with urea at a heavily discounted price of ₹266 for a bag weighing 45 kg. The government is responsible for covering a subsidy of around ₹2,500 for each bag.

If private entities engage in the illegal diversion of heavily subsidized urea intended for farmers and agriculture towards non-agricultural or industrial purposes, this will lead to a shortage of urea for farmers and increase the government's subsidy burden.

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New innovative practices, including the development of a new mixture module within the Integrated Fertilize Management System by the Department of Fertilizers, are being encouraged. The aim is to spread awareness among farmers about the quality of fertilizers and other online services available on the portal. The quality of products and licenses is being strictly monitored.

These relentless efforts have resulted in an increased demand for Technical Grade Urea. As a result of fewer licenses being issued by States for mixture manufacturing, many existing mixture manufacturing units have shifted their focus to selling bio and organic fertilizers. This is promoting natural farming to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers.

-PIB

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