Alternatives to Soluble Phosphorus Fertilizers in Indian Context

Phosphorus is one of the primary nutrients required in crop production. Rock phosphate is the raw material required for the manufacturing of soluble phosphorus fertilizers, which is nonrenewable in nature and expected to last for 50–400 years. The restriction of resources to few geographical locations makes its supply more vulnerable. In India, 90% of the rock phosphate for fertilizer manufacturing is imported. However, the low quality of rock phosphate deposits available in India can be utilized with certain modifications in the form of addition of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, addition of gypsum, and in the form of phospho-enriched compost. Agriculture, livestock, urban and industrial waste can also prove to be a source of phosphorus through crystallization of struvite. There are encouraging results of struvite compared with soluble phosphorus fertilizers. This will reduce the import dependency in India as well as encourage the Atmanirbhar initiative in phosphorus fertilizer.