India's Food Security and Soil Health

India has undergone a remarkable transformation from relying heavily on food aid in the 1960s under the US PL-480 programme to becoming the world's largest rice exporter. In 2024-25 (FY25), India exported 20.2 million tonnes of rice out of a global market of 61 million tonnes. The country also administers the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), the world’s largest food distribution program, providing free rice or wheat to over 800 million people monthly.

Poverty Reduction and Remaining Challenges

• Extreme poverty has significantly decreased, with the headcount falling from 27.1% in 2011 to 5.3% in 2022.
• Despite these achievements, malnutrition remains a significant challenge, with 35.5% of children under five stunted, 32.1% underweight, and 19.3% wasted.
• The focus needs to shift from caloric sufficiency to nutritional security.

Soil Health and Agricultural Productivity

• Soil micronutrient deficiencies lead to reduced agricultural productivity and nutritional quality of crops.
• Zinc deficiency in soils results in low zinc content in cereals, which contributes to childhood stunting.
• According to the Soil Health Card Scheme, out of more than 8.8 million soil samples tested in 2024: 
  • Less than 5% have sufficient nitrogen.
  • 40% have sufficient phosphate.
  • 32% have sufficient potash.
  • 20% have sufficient soil organic carbon (SOC).
• Many soils are deficient in sulphur and micronutrients like iron, zinc, and boron.
• Imbalanced use of fertilizers: Overuse of nitrogen (N) and underuse of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in states like Punjab and Telangana.

Impacts of Fertiliser Imbalance

• The fertilizer-to-grain response ratio has dropped from 1:10 in the 1970s to 1:2.7 in 2015.
• Granular urea results in significant nitrogen losses, with only 35-40% absorbed by crops.
• Excess nitrogen contributes to atmospheric greenhouse gases and groundwater contamination.
• Urea is often diverted to non-agricultural uses or exported illegally.

Solutions for Improving Soil Health

• India needs to transition from indiscriminate fertilizer use to tailored, science-based soil nutrition management. 
• This involves precise, region-specific, data-driven soil nutrition strategies informed by rigorous soil testing.

Collaborative Efforts

The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and OCP Nutricrops have partnered to improve soil health. Their collaboration focuses on developing and scaling solutions to enhance crop productivity and nutritional profiles, aiming for sustainable food production. This initiative underscores that addressing soil health is not just an agricultural issue but a public health imperative, essential for nourishing India’s population effectively.