New Delhi, June 1 -- India reduced its fertilizer demand estimate for the kharif season after the weather office downgraded its monsoon forecast, adding to pressure on an agriculture sector that is coming to grips with disruptions from the West Asia war.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) revised its 2026 south-west monsoon forecast to 90% of the long-period average (LPA), down from 92%, prompting the department of agriculture and farmers welfare to pare the overall fertilizer requirements to 38.39 million tonnes from an earlier 39.05 million tonnes. Urea demand has been trimmed by roughly 400,000 tonnes to 19 million tonnes, while diammonium phosphate (DAP) demand was cut to 5.62 million tonnes from 5.91 million tonnes.

"The Dep...