India’s fertiliser production plunged nearly a quarter in March, official data showed, after natural gas imports used in its manufacture were hit by the Middle East conflict, reports Reuters.

Natural gas is used to power the production of urea, a key part of the lifeline fertilisers used by India’s vast agriculture sector, making it deeply sensitive to global energy price swings.

The slump comes after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which key energy supplies and fertiliser-linked inputs pass, after the United States and Israel launched their war on the country on February 28.

A third of the world’s fertilisers normally transit the waterway, and the disruption has prompted multiple warnings about the impact on food production Individual farms are small and often unproductive, but agriculture employs more than 45 percent of people in India, the world’s most populous nation.

“Fertiliser production declined by 24.6 percent in March 2026, over March 2025,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.