Banke farmers wait for fertiliser delivery

Sabitri Giri Kohalpur, June 21: Farmer Jaipal Maurya of Duduwa village in Banke has repeatedly approached the Agricultural Inputs Company Ltd. to get the chemical fertiliser required for paddy cultivation. 

Likewise, framer Gopi Yadav of Nepalgunj also did a lot of research on fertiliser but was unable to find it. They are representative farmers. 

At present, all the farmers in Banke district are worried that paddy production will decline due to lack of fertilisers. 

Yadav said that despite the office demanding 3,000 metric tons of urea, 1,200 metric tons of DAP, and 50 metric tons of potash, it had not yet been provided to the farmers. 

Among those who had made similar demands, only 335 tons of DAP and 9 metric tons of potash were provided. The problem was due to the non-availability of fertiliser as per the demand and need of the farmers. 

He informed that the demand from farmers was high and the fertiliser would be sold out in a few days.

According to Sagar Dhakal, head of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Banke, paddy is cultivated on 36,500 hectares of land in Banke.

Even though paddy is cultivated in such a large area, the possibility of production has decreased due to the non-availability of fertiliser, said Dhakal.  He urged focusing on organic manure to solve this problem and said that public awareness programmes are being carried out accordingly.

The problem arose when farmers used DAP and potash before and urea after planting paddy. Narayan Prasad Sharma, chief of Lumbini Province, said that the Agriculture Inputs Company Ltd. would solve this problem. 

He said that preparations have started for the availability of fertilisers till the last week of July. 

According to Sharma, the fertiliser could not be delivered on time due to rising fuel prices, rising dollar prices, an unmanageable process, and low fertiliser production. According to the office, only 25 tons of DAP has been received so far.