New Delhi, June 1 -- As the kharif sowing season begins, India faces a storm that combines geopolitics, food security, ecological damage and fiscal stress. The Prime Minister has launched a 'Save the Fields' campaign. The Agriculture Ministry is pushing PM-Pranam to reduce chemical fertilizer use and promote alternate nutrients.

Yet the same government may end up spending close to Rs.3 trillion this year subsidizing those very chemicals. This is a central contradiction in India's agricultural policy.

India is the world's second-largest consumer of fertilizers, using nearly 65 million tonnes annually. Of that, almost one-third is import dependence by volume. Urea production needs natural gas, 80% of which is imported. Potash is almost en...