At present, Tagging has become the biggest problem for farmers and retail fertilizer traders across the country. Tagging with UREA and DAP by companies and wholesalers in the name of Fertilizers shortage.
SNPNEWS.IN (21-7-2025): At present, the situation has deteriorated so much in the entire country that fertilizer companies are forcing retailers to buy countless unauthorized products like Micoraza, Sulphur, Biostimulants, Bio-Potash, Prom by tagging them with UREA and DAP. Each retailer is losing an average of Rs 50-60 from a bag of UREA and Rs 250-300 from DAP. Because the company already charges 20-50% more than the market price for the product tagged with UREA DAP.
The Agriculture Department has banned the sale of these unnecessary fertilizers to retailers and farmers. Due to which the godowns of retailers are full of these fertilizers. Tagged fertilizers worth crores of rupees have accumulated in the godowns of traders.The Union Ministry of Fertilizers and Agriculture is continuously receiving countless complaints from all over the country on this issue.
Taking action on which, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote a letter to the Chief Ministers of the states and ordered them to take action to stop illegal tagging.In this regard, today, the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Fertilizers has written a letter to the MDs/CMDs of all fertilizer companies, giving a strict warning.
1. It has come to the notice of the department that some non-subsidized products like pesticides, nano fertilizers, bio-stimulants and other products are being tagged to farmers with subsidized fertilizers like urea and DAP/NPK.
2. It should be remembered that fertilizers have been declared as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (ECA-1955). Any activity involving unauthorized tagging of other products with subsidized fertilizers may be a violation of ECA-1955 and the Fertilizers Control Order, 1985 (FCO-1985). The Department has issued advisories from time to time to prevent such practices. However, it has been observed that dealers and retailers of some companies continue to tag non-subsidized products while selling subsidized fertilizers to farmers.
3. The Department has been receiving continuous complaints and grievance petitions, which indicate that the practice of tagging non-subsidized products with subsidized fertilizers is widespread and persistent. Such practices impose unnecessary financial burden on farmers and undermine the objectives of the Government’s fertilizer subsidy framework, which aims to provide affordable and equitable access to essential fertilizers.
4. Therefore, you are strictly directed to ensure that no such tagging of non-subsidized products with subsidized fertilizers is done for farmers. Any such incident of misuse, if brought to the notice of this department, will be strictly taken action under the relevant legal provisions.It remains to be seen whether the process of tagging will be stopped after the warning of the Secretary, Ministry of Fertilizers or some other way of loot will be found.