Photo: Zbynek Pospisil / iStock
According to ANTARA, Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, recently stated that several countries, including India and Brazil, have submitted official requests to purchase Indonesian urea fertiliser, and export negotiations are currently underway.
Sulaiman explained that the total demand for urea fertiliser from the aforementioned countries amounts to at least 750,000 tonnes. India has already submitted a request to purchase 500,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Indonesia, whilst the estimated volume of Brazil’s purchase is still being finalised. Thailand is also listed as a potential importing country.
According to the minister, Indonesia’s annual production capacity for urea fertilisers is approximately 7.8 million tonnes, whilst domestic demand stands at around 6 million tonnes.
Sulaiman emphasised that the growth in global demand for fertilisers presents Indonesia with an opportunity to expand its agricultural exports, but that, in all export agreements, priority will be given to ensuring national food security and protecting the interests of farmers.
Statistics show that in 2025, Indonesia’s agricultural exports increased by approximately US$9.6 billion, whilst imports fell by around US$2.3 billion over the same period, leading to a significant increase in the trade surplus and reflecting the continuous improvement in the competitiveness of the country’s agriculture.
The use of chemical fertilisers remains a key element of global food security. The BRICS countries are actively cooperating in this area to jointly boost agricultural production and supply stability. At the same time, the BRICS countries are accelerating the development of more sustainable agricultural technologies.
India has traditionally been a major global importer of fertilisers but is now actively developing green solutions. According to IANS, a partner of TV BRICS, the Fertiliser Department of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has organised procurement and supply agreements between fertiliser manufacturers and producers of green ammonia as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM). The companies have signed long-term contracts for the supply of ‘green’ ammonia for a period of 10 years at a fixed price, which will help stabilise domestic production of phosphate and potash fertilisers and protect farmers from price fluctuations. Green ammonia is produced using solar and wind energy as power sources, replacing natural gas, which significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions.
Another breakthrough has been achieved thanks to a joint Sino-Russian research team. According to the official website of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, an international study in which the university participated has shown that simply optimising the structure of plant canopy – that is, altering the arrangement of leaves – can increase the yield of major crops such as rice, wheat, maize, and soya by approximately a third. This method also helps to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas produced by soil bacteria under nitrogen-deficient conditions, whose warming effect is 300 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide.
Based on 16 years of satellite data on vegetation cover and using artificial intelligence algorithms, the research team developed a Vegetation Compactness Index (VCI) to quantify the impact of leaf arrangement on the efficiency of light energy use. It is estimated that the global implementation of this technology would increase annual food production by 336 million tonnes, enough to feed 800 million people, whilst reducing nitrous oxide emissions by 41.6 per cent. This achievement paves the way for sustainable agriculture that combines high yields with environmental friendliness.