Fertiliser Fiasco

BMD

Nepal’s agriculture sector gets top priority in government’s policy documents and budget statements every year. As a mainstay of the national economy, this sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) stands at around 24 per cent. But farmers across the nation are bound to scramble for having chemical fertilisers each year. Farmers cannot gain a good farm output without using this agro input. So, the perennial unavailability of fertilisers on time is one of the main reasons behind a lower level of production of staple crops like paddy and maize.

In this hot season, farmers are seen standing in long queues in front of depots and shops to get fertilisers. But they cannot have it in sufficient quantity. They also have to pay hefty amounts for fertilisers even if they find this farm nutrient in the market. This naturally leads to a significant rise in production cost of crops. 

Like in the previous years, farmers across the nation are now worried that their paddy production could fall with a shortage of fertilisers. The country requires an estimated 6,000 metric tonnes of fertilisers annually. But, the nation has imported only a bit more than 170,000 tonnes during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. The government had set aside Rs. 15 billion to import fertilisers for this fiscal year. With an increase in the prices of fertilisers in the international market in recent times, the allocated amount may be enough to purchase only about 200,000 tonnes. This signals that farmers are having difficulty buying fertilisers this time, too.

Given this scenario, the House of Representatives recently endorsed a special motion to instruct the government to deliver fertilisers as soon as possible by any means. It was a good initiative on the part of lawmakers to unanimously pass such a proposal. With that effort, there were high hopes among farmers that the much-needed farm nutrient would be available soon. But, according to Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahendra Ray Yadav, the required amount of fertilisers might arrive in the country only by the end of July. The ministry has initiated the process of importing 150,000 metric tonnes of fertilisers through the Agricultural Inputs Company Limited while 117,000 metric tonnes through the Salt Trading Company. A couple of weeks back, Minister Yadav had also gone to India in order to manage the import of fertilisers on time.    

What is sarcastic is that the vital issue of fertilisers emerges almost every year, troubling farmers. The responsible authorities do not seem to have been taking this issue seriously. Farmers would not have to go through this problem time and again had the authorities started the process of importing fertilisers on time.

Meanwhile, hundreds of local farmers of Dharke in Dhunibesi Municipality of Dhading district seized sacks of fertilisers from two trucks loaded with it at about 1:30 am on Saturday. The trucks were being escorted to Kathmandu. As per media reports, the Department of Revenue Investigation had impounded the trucks in Kurintar area along the Prithvi Highway as they were carrying fertilisers smuggled from India. Police have begun investigations into the matter. This incident, however, signals how desperate farmers are for the farm input.

This endless problem also calls for establishing a fertiliser factory within the country. This issue has been raised for decades. It becomes more prominent in paddy plantation period. But it goes out of policymakers’ mind soon after this season is over.