Shift from higher yields to nutrient-efficient crops needed to cut fertiliser dependence: ICAR’s Jat

Indian agriculture needs to move beyond the conventional focus on increasing crop productivity and embrace biodiversity-led agroecology, regenerative agriculture and natural farming to improve resource-use efficiency and reduce dependence on imported fertilisers, M L Jat, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), said on Friday.

Speaking at an event organised by the Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, Jat said the focus should be on achieving measurable outcomes rather than getting caught up in debates over definitions of agroecology, regenerative agriculture and natural farming.

"Whatever contributes to these outcomes, I don't care what you call them. Rather than indulging in definitions and concepts, we should focus on what works," he added.


Jat emphasised that soil biodiversity and agrobiodiversity are fundamental to sustainable agriculture, arguing that healthy soils need to be treated as living systems supported by a diversity of organisms and beneficial microbes.

He linked the development of biodiversity-based farming systems with India's ambition of achieving self-reliance in agriculture, particularly by reducing dependence on imported fertilisers. "How do we reduce the import dependence that comes with our existing agricultural pathways?" he asked, pointing to the role of agroecology, soil microbes and biodiversity in sustaining agricultural production.

Citing progress under the National Mission on Natural Farming, Jat said around 2.6 million farmers had enrolled in the programme, covering approximately 1.3 million hectares of land. He said natural farming and regenerative agriculture offered different pathways towards sustainability, but their suitability would depend on local agroecological conditions.

"In agriculture, there is nothing like right or wrong, and nothing like good or bad. It all depends. We have to define what works where and under what circumstances," he said.

Focus on efficiency, climate resilience

Jat said India's agricultural research priorities must evolve from an overwhelming emphasis on productivity towards improving the efficiency with which farmers use water and nutrients. He identified three key targets: doubling water-use efficiency, doubling nutrient-use efficiency and halving climate-related risks.

Achieving these goals would require integrating modern agricultural science with traditional knowledge and farmers' experience, he said. He also called for greater emphasis on developing crop varieties that require fewer nutrients and are better suited to agroecological, natural and regenerative farming systems.

"We have been focusing only on productivity. We are doing well on that, but we truly need to think about breeding for nutrient-use efficiency and breeding for agroecology, natural farming and regenerative agriculture," Jat said.

Farmers need better market returns

Jat said improving farm production alone would not be sufficient to raise farmers' incomes, stressing the need to strengthen value chains and market connections. "Production alone will give only one-third of the income to the farmer. The remaining two-thirds will come from the value chain and the market. That is where the missing link is," he said.

Pointing to emerging consumer interest in environmentally sustainable products, he cited the example of a Punjab farmer who has reportedly avoided crop-residue burning for more than a decade and now wants to market his flour as "low-carbon flour".

Jat said such initiatives demonstrated the potential to create market opportunities for farmers adopting sustainable practices, provided they were connected to consumers willing to pay a premium.

He added that India's future agricultural security depended on protecting its natural and human capital, both of which faced growing risks.

ICAR-ICMR programme links agriculture with nutrition

Jat also highlighted a joint initiative launched by ICAR and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), called SEHAT (Science Excellence for Health through Agricultural Transformation), to establish stronger links between agriculture, food and human health. He said India had developed around 205 biofortified crop varieties, but evidence was needed to establish whether these varieties were improving people's nutritional outcomes.

Under the initiative, ICMR has begun clinical studies to assess their health and nutritional impact, he said. The objective is to generate scientific evidence that can support better market recognition and premium prices for nutritious agricultural produce, while also contributing to improved public health outcomes.

Jat said ICAR was also examining the nutritional and health profiles of farmers practising integrated farming systems, looking beyond their role in improving farm resilience and incomes. Diversified farming systems, he said, could also provide farm households with access to a wider range of nutritious foods.

He said generating evidence on the relationship between agricultural practices, nutrition and health would help shape more sustainable and farmer-centric agricultural policies.