Parliament Question: Neem Coated Urea

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS LOK SABHA STARRED Question No. *286 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 Neem Coated Urea *286: Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal:

Smt. Anita Nagarsingh Chouhan:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has made neem-coating mandatory on urea available for agricultural use in the country;

(b) if so, the major objectives thereof alongwith the benefits likely to accrue to the farmers therefrom;

(c) whether the neem-coated urea has effectively controlled the illegal diversion of urea for industrial and other non-agricultural uses, if so, the details of data available in this regard alongwith the evaluation made thereof;

(d) the quantum of neem-coated urea produced, supplied and marketed in the country during the last three years, State-wise and year-wise;

(e) whether the Government proposes to make any special arrangements to ensure timely and adequate supply of neem-coated urea to farmers; and

(f) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the table of the House. *****-2- STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *286 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 REGARDING ‘NEEM COATED UREA’ ASKED BY DR. SANJAY JAISWAL AND SMT. ANITA NAGARSINGH CHOUHAN.

(a) to (f): It is mandatory for all the domestic producers and importers of Urea to supply 100% Neem Coated Urea (NCU) since 2015 onwards. One of the primary benefits of Neem Coating is that due to slow release, the consumption of NCU reduces as compared to normal Urea, improving crop uptake, and reducing environmental losses. Research findings indicated that the average yield enhancement due to use of NCU is 8.25%. Further, application of NCU, significantly reduced the nitrogen losses by about 10%-15%.

Neem-Coated Urea (NCU) acts as an effective nitrification inhibitors, leading to higher soil NH +-N and lower NO -N compared to prilled Urea, though their performance varies with soil 4 2 type, crop, and region. Several studies have shown that NCU increases nitrogen availability, reduces NO leaching, and minimizes NH volatilization losses. Research across different 3 3 soils consistently reports higher nitrogen recovery, improved yield at lower N application rates, and reduced nitrogen losses.

The Government of India in consultation with the State Government is regularly monitoring the enforcement action taken by State Government against the cases of Black marketing, Hoarding, Sub-standard and Diversion on weekly basis. In the country, Since April 2026, 1,69,031 raids have been conducted with 9,127 show cause notices issued, 2,868 licenses suspended/cancelled and 270 FIRs registered against defaulters. Additionally, in case of diversion 414 show cause notices issued, 113 licenses suspended/cancelled and 46 FIRs registered. This Ministry regularly pursue with the State Government to strictly implement the enforcement action against the defaulters.

Further, the Quantum of Neem Coated Urea produced in the country during the last three years, State-Wise and Year-Wise is as under:

Production of Neem-Coated Urea during Last Three Years Fig. In LMT Name of State 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Andhra Pradesh 13.1 2.2 0.0 Karnataka 4.3 4.4 4.4 Telangana 11.1 12.0 8.6 Tamil Nadu 9.6 12.5 12.1 Goa 3.5 4.2 4.0 Madhya Pradesh 21.7 21.4 19.7Maharashtra 21.8 20.6 21.1 Gujarat 39.7 40.1 36.8 Rajasthan 37.9 38.7 37.7 Assam 1.8 1.9 2.3 West Bengal 15.0 14.7 14.5 Haryana 5.3 5.1 5.5 Punjab 9.9 10.6 11.2 Uttar Pradesh 97.4 97.0 89.4 Bihar 10.6 8.6 12.0 Jharkhand 11.4 12.5 13.8 GRAND TOTAL 314.1 306.4 293.2

Source: dbfert.nic.in In addition, following Steps are taken by the Government every season for ensuring timely and adequate supply of fertilizers across the States/UTs:

I. Before the commencement of each cropping season, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), in consultation with all the State Governments, assesses the State-wise & month-wise requirement of fertilizers. On the basis of requirement projected by DA&FW, Department of Fertilizers (DoF) allocates adequate quantities of fertilizers to States by issuing monthly supply plan and continuously monitors the availability.

II. The movement of all major subsidized fertilizers is monitored throughout the country by an on-line web-based monitoring system called integrated Fertilizer Management System

(iFMS).

III. The gap between demand (requirement) and production for Urea & other fertilizer is met through imports. The import for the season is also finalized well in advance to ensure timely availability.

IV. The State Governments are regularly advised to coordinate with manufacturers and importers for streamlining the supplies through timely placement of indents.

V. Regularly coordinate with the Ministry of Railways for giving sufficient rakes, priority to fertilizers and for timely evacuation of rakes for States.

VI. The distribution of fertilizers within the State at district level is done by the concerned State government.

Accordingly, the availability of Urea has remained adequate across the States/UTs during the last three years (i.e. in FYs 2023-24 to 2025-26). The information regarding requirement, availability and sales of Urea across the States/UTs during the said period is placed at Annexure.

***Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (f) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *286 for answering on 07.08.2026 UREA STATE WISE REQUIREMENT, AVAILABILITY & SALES FROM 2023-24 TO 2025-26 Fig. in LMT 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 S.No State Requirement Availability Sales Requirement Availability Sales Requirement Availability Sales Andaman and Nicobar 1 Islands 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2 Andhra Pradesh 15.73 17.89 14.99 15.90 18.68 15.70 15.60 19.22 17.06 3 Arunachal Pradesh 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 4 Assam 3.46 4.56 3.73 3.28 4.48 4.10 3.35 5.13 4.60 5 Bihar 22.63 27.46 23.24 22.87 27.64 25.60 23.82 28.12 25.33 6 Chandigarh 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7 Chhattisgarh 8.40 11.37 8.99 8.90 12.03 10.07 10.00 12.41 9.81 8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 9 Daman and Diu 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10 Delhi 0.00 0.37 0.32 0.23 0.43 0.40 0.26 0.25 0.2111 Goa 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 12 Gujarat 24.71 26.78 24.30 25.60 25.82 24.23 25.02 25.95 23.99 13 Haryana 20.63 24.86 21.77 21.50 25.32 22.65 21.67 26.08 23.20 14 Himachal Pradesh 0.68 0.82 0.68 0.71 0.81 0.65 0.66 0.94 0.79 15 Jammu and kashmir 1.40 2.01 1.45 1.48 2.05 1.36 1.46 2.24 1.60 16 Jharkhand 2.47 3.74 3.04 2.65 4.11 3.73 2.90 3.73 3.22 17 Karnataka 16.10 21.02 15.65 17.25 22.63 19.17 18.77 21.55 18.85 18 Kerala 1.19 1.13 0.96 1.11 1.37 1.15 1.14 1.30 1.14 19 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 20 Madhya Pradesh 33.46 41.73 34.37 35.38 42.43 38.09 40.42 47.16 42.43 21 Maharashtra 23.74 31.06 23.48 23.73 32.72 26.41 26.77 32.37 27.27 22 Manipur 0.30 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.16 0.14 0.20 0.24 0.19 23 Meghalaya 0.02 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03 24 Mizoram 0.07 0.15 0.13 0.08 0.25 0.20 0.07 0.11 0.11 25 Nagaland 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 26 Odisha 5.46 7.70 5.84 6.05 8.15 6.67 6.20 8.94 7.26 27 Puducherry 0.16 0.15 0.13 0.16 0.16 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.1428 Punjab 29.48 37.35 30.68 26.50 36.70 32.56 29.92 35.36 31.39 29 Rajasthan 24.28 29.23 25.39 26.20 29.43 26.40 25.52 31.94 28.05 30 Sikkim 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 31 Tamil Nadu 10.23 11.86 10.11 10.91 12.61 10.92 10.87 12.80 11.43 32 Telangana 18.94 23.77 19.03 20.20 22.15 20.08 20.20 21.80 20.94 33 Tripura 0.24 0.26 0.14 0.18 0.24 0.17 0.18 0.24 0.17 34 Uttarakhand 1.84 2.67 2.31 2.03 2.60 2.31 2.01 2.49 2.21 35 Uttar Pradesh 76.15 91.83 74.53 77.00 91.72 79.18 79.92 91.75 80.37 36 West Bengal 14.32 17.34 12.20 13.80 19.05 15.77 14.30 18.43 14.76 All India 356.08 437.47 357.81 364.01 443.83 387.92 381.45 450.79 396.60

1. Primary Indicator of comfortable availability: Availability > Requirement

2. Secondary Indicator of comfortable availability:

Availability > Sales ****