Stock-Taking
Surplus seeds, comfortable opening stock of fertilisers for kharif season, says government
This story was originally published at 17:17 IST on 1 April 2026
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--Govt: Opening stock of fertiliser comfortable
NEW DELHI – India has surplus availability of seeds and a comfortable opening stock of fertilisers to meet the immediate requirements for the upcoming kharif season, Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, additional secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, said at an inter-ministerial briefing on Wednesday.
About 18.57 million tonnes of seeds are available for the kharif season against the demand for 16.65 million tonnes. In fact, there is surplus seed availability for major crops such as paddy, soybean, groundnut, maize, and pulses, the official said. Going forward, the country is also expected to have adequate seeds for the rabi season, Dwivedi said. The government has ensured priority allocation of natural gas for maize seed drying, she added.
On fertilisers, the official said that the country has an opening stock of 18 million tonnes against the demand for 39.05 million tonnes in the kharif season. This is "a fairly good amount available because by thumb rule, the opening stock (must be) about one-third of the requirement," she said.
The government has also undertaken a strict nationwide enforcement drive to prevent hoarding, black marketeering, and diversion of fertilizer for non-agricultural use, she said. To improve monitoring, many states have integrated fertiliser sales data with farmer databases or land records, she added.
Further, prices of agricultural commodities are largely stable, and tomato, onion, and potato prices are showing slight improvement in wholesale markets. End
Reported by Afra Abubacker
Edited by Vandana Hingorani
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