The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, has canceled the registration of 9,352 biostimulant fertilizers** sold in India. Following this decision, only 146 biostimulants remain approved by the government.
SNPNEWS.IN News Update, Sep 25: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been encouraging farmers to use high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides for a long time. The Central Government and the Ministry of Agriculture are working diligently in this regard.
During a recent press conference, Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that several companies were selling unauthorized biostimulant fertilizers to farmers, which needed to be curbed. He explained that a provisional registration system (G3 certificates) was introduced in 2021 to allow manufacturers and importers time to collect data on bioefficacy, toxicity, and chemistry. Due to repeated requests from the industry, this system was extended four times, with the final deadline being June 16, 2025.
According to sources, several prominent companies failed to convince the ministry regarding the quality and quantity of their products. As a result, on September 9-11, 2025 the Government of India announced the formal end of provisional registrations for biostimulant products, invalidating over 9,000 such approvals effective from June 17, 2025.
This step fully integrates biostimulants into the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), 1985, aiming to regulate quality, efficacy, and safety in the agricultural sector after years of transitional leniency. Before 2021, approximately 30,000 biostimulant products flooded the market without oversight, prompting their initial inclusion under the FCO through Notification No. S.O. 882 (E) dated February 23, 2021.
Following this decision, the sale, storage, and production of 9,352 products from prominent companies will be completely affected. Only 146 biostimulants remain approved by the government.
On August 18, 2025, in response to a petition filed by the Biological Agri Solutions Industry Association of India (BASAI) and several companies, the Delhi High Court ruled that biostimulant products manufactured before September 17, 2025, can be sold, provided their applications are still under processing under the FCO, 1985, and have not been officially canceled.