India boosts fertiliser imports from Canada, Israel as Russian supply disrupted

Minister says fertiliser secured for summer crop demand

India is boosting fertiliser imports from nations including Canada and Israel to ensure sufficient supplies for the coming summer sowing season after the disruption of shipments caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

India is a leading importer of fertilisers for its huge agriculture sector, which employs about 60% of the country’s workforce and accounts for 15% of the $2.7 trillion economy.

“This time we have made advance preparations for kharif [summer sown crop] season. We need about 30 million tonnes of fertilisers and arrangements are in place,” Fertiliser Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Reuters, without elaborating.

He said India would have a comfortable opening stock, about a quarter of the overall amount of fertilisers needed for the summer season.

Indian farmers usually start planting crops including rice, cotton and soybean with the arrival of monsoon rains in June.

To fertilise the crops, India depends on imports for its entire annual consumption of 4 million to 5 million tonnes of potash and ships in a third of this from Belarus and Russia.

Landlocked Belarus uses ports in Russia and Lithuania for its exports.