Fertiliser use by nutrient
How India's fertiliser nutrient use splits across nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
Total nutrient use (N+P+K)
30.64 MT
2023-24 · in million tonnes (nutrients)
Trend
The numbers
| Nitrogen | 20.5 |
| Phosphate | 8.3 |
| Potash | 1.9 |
Consumption of primary nutrients — nitrogen (N), phosphate (P₂O₅) and potash (K₂O) — in 2023-24.
What the numbers say
- India used 30.64 million tonnes of fertiliser nutrients (N + P₂O₅ + K₂O) in 2023-24, up 2.7% on the year.
- Use is heavily skewed to nitrogen — roughly an 11 : 4 : 1 N:P:K ratio, far from the ~4 : 2 : 1 agronomists recommend.
- The skew reflects urea's deep subsidy, which keeps nitrogen cheap; overuse hurts soil health.
Related
Sources
Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) / Department of Fertilizers.
Last reviewed 3 July 2026.