New Delhi, April 15 -- The Centre is building a digital system to track the sale of its urea, in an effort to curb diversion and hoarding of its most-utilized fertilizer at a time of broken supply chains and concerns of food security.

The new system, spearheaded by the Department of Fertilizers, will require Aadhaar-based biometric authentication through a mobile app currently under development, two people familiar with the plan said. At a later stage, the system will also integrate farmers' land records, crop details, and fertilizer requirements based on landholding. The plan draws heavily from similar models in Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana, the people said on the condition of anonymity.

The move is significant for India, the world...