Water soluble fertilizers(WSFs)were introduced in India way back in the late 1990s.Till 2005,their usage was restricted to Maharashtra.By 2011,adoption of WSFs had spread on to the states of Gujarat,Madhya Pradesh,erstwhile Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.From 2011 onwards,many states of North India started using WSFs.When introduced two decades ago,these were promoted mainly for horticultural crops.In this 20-years'period,the Indian farmers have realized the true value of WSFs and not surprisingly,these are now being used in almost all the crop segments.The market size for WSFs grew from mere-10,000 tonnes(t)in early 2000s to-3,00,000 t in 2021.Major growth drivers for the expansion of the WSF market are:(a)exponential growth in area under drip Irrigation,(b)need for improved efficiency in the delivery of nutrients to plants,and(c)constraints in terms of power and labour availability in rural areas.With renewed focus on sustainable agriculture in the face of impending climate change,and to meet the growing need for higher productivity and better quality of produce,much larger acreage is expected to come under drip irrigation.During last six years,several organizations have introduced stage and crop specific water-soluble mixtures of fertilizers.Higher bio-availability of nutrients in WSFs helps the plant in its physiological growth while meeting the nutritional requirements of the crop in critical stages has been the major reason for their accelerated adoption.As the awareness about WSFs grows stronger,it will be safe to assume that the demand for WSFs will surge in the coming years and will inspire novel innovations in this space.
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