New Delhi: Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, D.V. Sadananda Gowda has congratulated officers of Department of Fertilisers and expressed gratitude to Ministry of Railways for helping move 73 fertiliser rakes in a single day on June 30, 2020. "Till date, this is a record number of fertiliser rakes moved in a single day," he stated.

During the month of June this year, average movement of Fertilizer rakes was 56.5 per day. It’s also a record number for any June month historically.

The Minister added that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is committed to make available affordable fertilisers at appropriate time to farmers. "So far for ongoing Kharif season, the Central Government in close coordination with State Governments has ensured steady supply of fertilisers in adequate quantity to farmers across the country."

The fertilizer consumption in India (kilograms per hectare of arable land) was 165.85 as of 2016. Its highest value over the past 14 years was 180.75 in 2011, while its lowest value was 100.33 in 2002. Fertilizer consumption was less than 1 million tonnes before the mid-1960s. With the introduction of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, there was acceleration in the growth of fertilizer consumption. It reached 12.73 million tonnes in 1991/92 as against 0.78 million tonnes in 1965/66. After the decontrol of P and K fertilizers the growth in consumption slowed. The highest consumption was recorded in 1999/2000 (18.07 million tonnes of nutrients). Since then, the growth in consumption has been erratic. In 2003/04, total nutrient consumption was 16.8 million tonnes.