India is planning to make tougher laws to fight fake fertilizers and help farmers avoid financial and agricultural issues.

Indian authorities are planning to introduce a new law that is meant to reduce the sale of fake fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, as these seem to total 40% of total agricultural inputs, as a 2015 FICCI report shows. The decision is being made following increased worries about the effect of fake agricultural inputs which are said to cause a reduced yield of crops amounting to more than 10 million tons every year.

These include Clause 19 of the Fertilizer Control Order, 1985 and the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 which already forbid the selling of such fake inputs. Still, enforcement of these laws is generally not widespread. The proposed bill seeks to boost penalties and disrupt unlawful supply chains to increase the strength of agriculture’s law, ethics and legal services.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently encouraged farmers to use agrochemicals sensibly and informed distributors that using agrochemicals irresponsibly would meet with legal consequences. On the same day, May 30, the Rajasthan government blocked 34 factories and registered 12 cases about illegally selling and producing fake fertilizer.

There the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers seized 70,000 bags of suspected fake urea in 2023. There is usually very little way to tell if something is fake just by looking at its packaging. The center supports tough legal services, moral ethics and strong compliance to ensure that farmers feel safe and farming continues.

Instant alerts encourage vigilance and awareness of systemic problems related to agriculture in terms of ethics and legal watchdogs.