Two days later, he asked the Chief Ministers of the states to stop the forced sale of nano-nerves and biostimulants to farmers, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said on Tuesday that the government would not allow the sale of bioostimulants without scientific nodes.
He directed the officials of his ministry to keep “clear rules and SOP (standard operating process)” for the sale of biostimulants.
Presiding over a meeting, Chauhan said that the farmers recently raised several complaints about the sale of fake fertilizers, seeds, biostimulants and nano urea during their visits in villages as part of the 15-day ‘Vikasi Krishi Sankalap Abhiyan’, where they had direct conversation with them.
Chauhan questioned that biostimulants, despite repeated renewal and sales years, were in the market even after several complaints, which they were ineffective.
He said, “Now, only those biostimulants who meet all the criteria and prove beneficial for the farmers will be approved. Now the approval will be based only on scientific recognition, and the responsibility for this will completely rest with the authorities concerned,” he said according to an official statement.
Many companies started selling biostimulants without any rules, but the government would not allow this to happen at any cost, said that the government would take action against the suspected manufacturers of biostimulants.
Chauhan said, “It is necessary to review the biostimulants thoroughly, how much benefits the farmers are getting from it, if not, it cannot be allowed to be sold,” Chauhan said.
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He also emphasized the need for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to evaluate biostimulants.
Chauhan instructed the officials to put clear rules and SOPs, and said that irregularities would no longer be tolerated.
Biostimulants are substances or microorganisms (such as beneficial bacteria, fungi, or plant extracts), when applied to seeds, plants or soils, stimulate the processes of natural plants.
The minister said that for many years, about 30,000 biostimulant products were being uncontrolled, and even in the last four years, around 8,000 products have been in circulation. He said, “When I implemented a strict check, the number has now come to about 650,” he said.
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It is discovered that the meeting was called Impromptu and no notice was given to the authorities. The meeting was attended by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the Ministry of ICAR.
The price of the biostimulants market in India was about 355–362 million USD in 2024 and by 2032 is expected to reach USD 1.13 billion and USD 1.2 billion.
On July 13, Chauhan told the state governments to immediately stop the “forced tagging” of traditional fertilizers such as urea and diamond phosphate (DAP) as well as nano-fertilizers or biostimulants. In a letter to the Chief Ministers, Chauhan highlighted the complaints that retailers are not selling traditional fertilizers such as urea, DAP, etc. to farmers, unless they buy nano-dancing or biostimulants.
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