Revisiting fertiliser strategies: Customised fertilisers for enhanced nutrient uptake, yield and profitability

Fertilisers are essential for increasing agricultural output and ensuring food security. In India, fertiliser consumption has increased substantially to 32.93 million tonnes by 2025 and the imbalanced and excessive use of fertilisers has led to declining soil fertility and reduced fertiliser use efficiency (FUE). In this context, customised fertilisers (CFs) have emerged as an effective strategy to address these challenges by providing balanced nutrition tailored to specific soil and crop requirements. These multi-nutrient fertilisers improve nutrient availability, correct deficiencies and enhance crop uptake of nutrients. Customised fertilisers also support precision nutrient management by aligning fertiliser application with soil test values and crop demand, thereby minimising nutrient losses and preventing soil degradation. Additionally, CF reduce labour, time and cost associated with fertiliser application. This review highlights how the gradual and need-based nutrient release from CF improves soil nutrient availability, crop nutrient uptake, FUE and crop productivity. Studies have shown that the use of CF increased nutrient availability and nutrient uptake by up to 45 %, while crop yield increased by 9–22 % in rice, 16–33 % in wheat and 15–20 % in chickpea compared to conventional fertilisers. These values represent ranges reported across individual studies. Overall, CF offer a sustainable approach for improving FUE, crop productivity and soil health.