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India’s US$20-billion fertilizer subsidies could do more for farmers — here’s how

Making payments directly to farmers can encourage them to use fertilizer more wisely, thereby improving soil health, yields and the environment.
By
  1. Asim Biswas

    1. Asim Biswas is a professor of agriculture in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

A farmer, who is part of a collective that practices natural farming, works at his farm in southern India.

Using fertilizer more sparingly in India could encourage farmers to improve natural soil fertility, as on this farm in Andhra Pradesh. Credit: Altaf Qadri/AP Photo/Alamy

India stands at a turning point in its agricultural journey. Its fertilizer subsidy programme, a cornerstone of its food-security strategy, now threatens the sustainability it aims to ensure1. The programme needs reform.

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Nature 635, 35-38 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03571-3

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Supplementary Information

  1. Proposed Direct Benefit Transfer model

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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