Insight 1 · The pace
11 → 227
In October 2024, only 11 of today's 227 biostimulants were in the FCO.
What it means for you: The list has grown twentyfold in 18 months. Every notification brings new competitors into your crop and your category.
FCO Insights 2026 · free
✓ Updated as on October 2026
What 419 notified products tell India's fertiliser and biostimulant makers
Patterns from every product in the Fertiliser Control Order: how fast it is growing, which crops are crowded, which are open, and what it means for your next product.
419notified products
227 biostimulants · 192 fertilisers
227 biostimulants · 192 fertilisers
95biostimulants notified for the first time in 2026
11Schedule VI notifications, March 2025 – March 2026
30crops with notified biostimulants
Latest notifications in our data: biostimulants S.O. 1574(E) of 25 Mar 2026; fertilisers the Ninth Amendment Order, 2026 (S.O. 4045(E), 22 Jul 2026). The next one can come any day.🔔 Get FCO update alerts on WhatsApp
Chapter 1
The FCO is moving fast
Insight 2 · The pace
90 in one day
90 biostimulants were notified on a single day: 13 August 2025.
1112 Sep 24
3126 May 25
9013 Aug 25
5016 Feb 26
4525 Mar 26
What it means for you: Your market can change overnight. Miss one day of the Gazette and you miss 90 new products.
Insight 3 · The pace
1 → 9
Schedule VI had one notification in 2024, then nine in 2025.
12021
02022
02023
12024
92025
22026
What it means for you: The pace changes without warning: a quiet year can be followed by nine notifications. Know the day it happens.
Insight 4 · The pace
+14 test methods
In September 2025 the FCO added test methods 33 to 46 for biostimulants, three months after replacing methods 1 to 32.
1–3233–46
Methods 1 to 32, replaced June 2025 (S.O. 2539(E))Methods 33 to 46, added September 2025 (S.O. 4533(E))
What it means for you: The bar keeps rising: every claim on your label can be checked by a notified method.
Chapter 2
The crop opportunity map
Insight 5 · Crops
175 of 354
Half of all crop listings are for just three crops: chilli, tomato and paddy.
Crowded (50 or more)Open (just one)Others
No notified biostimulant yet:BananaMangoCitrusPapayaGuavaCoconutTurmericGingerGarlicCauliflowerPigeon pea (tur)Sorghum (jowar)Pearl millet (bajra)SunflowerCoffeeCardamom
A crop listing is one product notified for one crop: 354 in all. Tap a crop to see its products.
What it means for you: Crowded crops mean thin margins. Seven crops have just one notified biostimulant, and major crops such as banana, mango and turmeric have none. Whoever is notified first sets the standard.
Insight 6 · Crops
51 vs 13
Paddy has 51 notified biostimulants. Wheat, India's other big cereal, has only 13.
What it means for you: The wheat opportunity is wide open. Is your next product for wheat?
Insight 7 · Crops
3 in 4
169 of the 227 notified biostimulants are notified for a single crop.
One crop only (169)Two or more crops (58)
What it means for you: Know exactly which crops your product is notified for before you put more crops on the leaflet.
Chapter 3
Crowded shelves
Insight 8 · Shelves
54 seaweeds
Seaweed extracts are the second-biggest category, and half of them are Ascophyllum (27 of 54).
What it means for you: A crowded shelf: what makes yours different on the label?
Insight 9 · Shelves
6 in 10
138 of the 227 notified biostimulants are liquids.
What it means for you: The form is part of the notified name: a liquid entry does not cover the powder or granule of the same product.
Insight 10 · Shelves
192 fertilisers
The FCO lists 42 fortified fertiliser grades, but only 5 nano fertilisers and 11 biofertilisers.
Contains: sulphur 55 · zinc 36 · boron 33 · magnesium 20 · calcium 17 products.
What it means for you: "Zincated", "fortified" or "nano" on a bag must match one of these notified grades, word for word.
Chapter 4
Doses and labels
Insight 11 · Doses
342 of 354
342 of the 354 notified biostimulant doses are per hectare. Not one is per acre.
34212
Per hectare (342)Per kg of seed, per litre of spray or other (12)
What it means for you: Your farmer buys per acre. The label PDF converts every dose to per acre and per guntha for you.
Insight 12 · Doses
2 or 3
271 of the 354 notified doses are given as two or three applications.
521×
1592×
1123×
204×
25×
Number of applications per notified dose.
What it means for you: Size your pack for the season, not for one spray: the label PDF suggests pack sizes from the notified dose.
Insight 13 · Doses
1,000×
Notified liquid doses for okra run from 12.5 mL to 12.5 litres per hectare, depending on the product.
12.5 mL12.5 L10 mL100 mL1 L10 L
What it means for you: There is no standard dose. Your label must carry your own product's notified dose, word for word.
30 crops
Biostimulants by crop
Chilli 67Tomato 57Paddy (rice) 51Potato 23Soybean 21Cotton 20Wheat 13Cucumber 10Grape 10Groundnut 9Okra 9Brinjal 8Green gram 8Onion 8Sugarcane 7Maize 6Chickpea (Bengal gram) 5Cumin 4Apple 3Black gram 2Capsicum 2Pomegranate 2Watermelon 2Bottle gourd 1Cabbage 1Mentha 1Mustard 1Pineapple 1Ridge gourd 1Tea 1
One page per crop, with every biostimulant notified for it: all crops, and major crops with none yet →
Know the day the FCO changes
One WhatsApp message when a new Gazette notification touches biostimulants or fertilisers, with what changed and which products it affects.
Questions
FCO facts in short
How many biostimulants are notified under the FCO in India?
227 biostimulants are notified in Schedule VI of the Fertiliser Control Order as on October 2026 (notifications up to S.O. 1574(E) of 25 Mar 2026), in 11 categories. 95 of them were notified for the first time in 2026.
Which crops have the most notified biostimulants?
Chilli (67), tomato (57) and paddy (51): together 175 of the 354 crop listings, about half. Seven crops have just one each: bottle gourd, cabbage, mentha, mustard, pineapple, ridge gourd, tea.
Which crops have no notified biostimulant?
None of the 227 notified biostimulants lists banana, mango, citrus, papaya, guava, coconut, turmeric, ginger, garlic, cauliflower, pigeon pea (tur), sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), sunflower, coffee or cardamom (as on October 2026).
How often does the FCO change?
Schedule VI, for biostimulants, changed through 11 Gazette notifications between March 2025 and March 2026: one in 2024, nine in 2025. For fertilisers, the FCO reached its Ninth Amendment Order of the year by July 2026.
How many fertilisers are in the FCO?
NanoKheti's FCO fertiliser tool covers 192 products from Schedules I, III, IV, V, VII and VIII, including 42 fortified fertilisers, 29 micronutrient fertilisers, 11 biofertilisers and 5 nano fertilisers.
All figures from NanoKheti's consolidation of the Gazette notifications: biostimulants up to S.O. 1574(E) of 25 Mar 2026, fertilisers up to the Ninth Amendment Order, 2026 (S.O. 4045(E), 22 Jul 2026). Crop names as notified, grouped (for example rice as paddy). NanoKheti is not a government body; the Gazette text is authoritative. Use the figures with a link to this page.