Urea imports surge 40% despite push to cut chemical fertilisers

Total urea imports in the April-September period rose to 5.589 million tonnes from 3.979 million tonnes in the first half of last fiscal year. Local sales fell 4.1% to 18.52 million tonnes. The sales were down primarily due to poor rainfall in large parts of the country deterring farmers from spending on soil nutrients, said a senior executive at a large urea firm.