Can awareness campaigns such as Khet Bachao Abhiyan deliver what price reform has not, in rationalising fertiliser use? Discuss critically.

India's NPK use ratio has been reported at 6.7:2.4:1, against the recommended 4:2:1 [2]. This imbalance comes mainly from how fertilisers are priced. Khet Bachao Abhiyan, launched nationwide from Taraori (Karnal) on 22 October 2026, tries to correct it by persuading farmers instead of changing prices [1]. It can support price reform, but it cannot replace it.

Why price reform has stalled

• Price gap: a farmer pays ₹266 for a bag of urea but ₹1,350 for a bag of DAP. Urea stays cheap while the Centre's fertiliser subsidy exceeds ₹1.5 lakh crore [1].
• Political cost: raising the urea price hurts small farmers straight away, so the reform keeps getting postponed.

What awareness can deliver

• Proven gains: an NPC study found that fertiliser applied as the Soil Health Card advises saved 8–10% fertiliser and raised yields by 5–6% [4].
• Cheap, wide reach: village drives through KVKs and checking the Soil Health Card on a mobile phone cost little and face no political resistance [1].
• Problems beyond nitrogen: the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers linked imbalanced urea use to micronutrient deficiencies. It recommended training farmers in balanced use and crop rotation [3].

Limits of awareness

• The price signal stays: the drive lasts about 40 days (22 Oct–30 Nov) [1], while cheap urea pulls the other way every season.
• Advice does not reach the field: a Ministry-commissioned study in Maharashtra found that card-distribution targets were met, but this did not lead farmers to apply the recommendations [5].
• Incentives go to the wrong level: PM-PRANAM gives 50% of the subsidy saved to States, not to farmers [6].
• Changing crops needs money: Haryana had to raise its Mera Pani Meri Viraasat subsidy for giving up paddy from ₹7,000 to ₹8,000 per acre [7].

Way forward

• Raise urea prices gradually and protect small farmers through direct benefit transfer.
• Give Soil Health Card advice at the fertiliser shop, when the farmer is buying.
• Measure success by district-wise fertiliser sales against PM-PRANAM's previous 3-year average [6], not by how many farmers attended.
• Extend per-acre payments for crop diversification to other paddy–wheat States [7].

Awareness changes what farmers know, but prices decide what they buy. Khet Bachao Abhiyan is therefore a useful complement that can build support for gradual price reform that protects farmers. Together, the two can restore soil health, in line with Article 48A, Article 51A(g) and SDGs 2 and 15.