NEW DELHI: After shocking India’s automobile sector by restricting rare earth magnets, China has now imposed restrictions on the supply of important Water-Soluble Fertilisers (WSF) ingredients used by India’s horticulture sector. WSF, a class of fertilisers easily absorbed by plants, is applied through drip irrigation, sprinklers, or foliar spray, delivering nutrients directly to the leaves or plant instead through the soil.The restriction could jeopardise the viability of India’s horticulture industry, which is larger than the country’s grain economy and contributes around one-third to the agricultural GDP.The major horticulture crops that would be impacted are grapes, pomegranates, bananas, and polyhouse farming, where exotic fruits and vegetables are grown for exports.Moreover, foliar spray is also being used on crops like wheat to sustain nutrients. Over the past two months, China has invoked the China Inspection Quarantine (CIQ) — an opaque inspection delay tactic — which has sharply declined the supply of essential ingredients such as Mono Ammonium Phosphate (MAP), Calcium Nitrate (CN), and Potassium Nitrate (PN).India relies on China for approximately 80 per cent of its speciality fertiliser imports during peak seasons; however, data shows that imports have nosedived. For instance, the import of MAP was 12,525 MT in 2023 and 21,214 MT in 2024, but it declined to 2,842 MT as of June 1. Similarly, CN imported in India from China was 223,941 MT in 2023, and it dipped to 49,311 MT till June 2025. The import of PN was 27,913 MT in 2024, which reduced to 16,837 MT. “China has put a soft blockade through CIQ, which unofficially banned India while continuing to supply it to other countries,” said Vinod Goyal, Secretary of the Soluble Fertiliser Industry Association (SFIA). India relies on China, importing over 80 per cent of the total required 4 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of ingredients due to the better quality and competitive prices offered by China compared to other producers in the Middle East countries and Russia. Lalitkumar Periwal, one of the local manufacturers of WSF in Gujarat, said the country has only two months of stock. “China had also put restrictions in 2023 but removed them in 2024 when we imported a record amount, which supported us in 2025, but again it put restrictions,” said Periwal. He emphasised the need for immediate policy intervention, such as removing WSF from the Essential Commodities Act to allow local manufacturing. Goyal also underlined concern like the existing disparity on policy is encouraging import from China while local manufacturers face huge hurdle. “Chinese products can be supplied in any state with one license while domestic manufacturers need multiple licenses in every State, which restricts Make in India products,” he said.India’s horticulture sector is key to agricultural growth and needs to be protected. While it has grown to cover over 13 per cent of cropped land, it contributes to around one-third of the country’s agricultural GDP. Additionally, it surpassed the country’s grain production. Following are countries where India import ingredients for Water Soluble Fertilisers. Product Major Supplier Countries MAP China, Russia, KoreaCalcium Nitrate China, Russia Mono Potassium Phosphate China Potassium Nitrate China, Chile, Jordan Potassium Sulphate China, Egypt, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, KSA Boronated Calcium Nitrate China
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