Farmers fret over fertiliser shortage Govt says it has 43,000 tonnes in stock

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 7: The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has said that there is around 43,000 tonnes of chemical fertilisers in stock.

According to spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Prakash Kumar Sanjel that around 42,938 tonnes of chemical fertiliser was still in stock at the depots of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited (AICL) and Salt Trading Corporation (STC) across the country.

Around 86,246 tonnes of chemical fertiliser has been sold and distributed in the first four months of the current fiscal year 2022/23 and around 42,983 tonnes of fertilisers is still available, he said.

Some fertiliser is in the process of entering Nepal, he said.

The AICL has 35,449 tonnes, including 15,179 tonnes of urea and 18,432 tonnes of DAP and STC has 7,534 tonnes, including 6,584 tonnes of urea and 854 tonnes of DAP in stock.

The AICL and STC are importing and distributing fertilisers at subsidised rate as per the budget allocated by the government. The AICL uses around 70 per cent and STC 30 per cent of the budget to import and distribute the fertilisers across the country.

By mid-November of the current fiscal year, the AICL has sold 57,212 tonnes (28,339 tonnes of urea, 24,443 tonnes of DAP and 4,430 tonnes of potash) and STC has sold 29,033 tonnes (23,557 tonnes of urea, 5,324 tonnes of DAP and 151 tonnes of potash) of chemical fertilisers.

Similarly, the Ministry has said that about 15,000 tonnes of urea is being imported.

In the current fiscal year, a tender was called for the purchase of 257,000 tonnes of chemical fertilisers through AICL and STC. According to the Ministry, 110,000 tonnes of fertiliser has been imported so far.

For the current fiscal year 2022/23, the government has allocated Rs. 15 billion to purchase the fertilisers.

Similarly, the Ministry of Finance has assured the sources of an additional budget of Rs. 16 billion for the import of chemical fertilisers to address the short supply during the plantation season.

According to acting Managing Director of AICL Rajendra Bahadur Karki, the AICL has been importing and distributing chemical fertilisers as per its responsibility and budget given by the government.

He said that the AICL has prepared to import an additional 50,000 tonnes, including 20,000 tonnes of DAP and 30,000 urea of fertiliser through global tender.

The Swiss Singapore company has been selected from the global tender for fertiliser supply. "The process will be moved forward by reaching an agreement shortly," he said.

Similarly, around 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser purchased from India through government-to-government is currently being packed so that it reaches by mid-December, 2022, he said.

Even though there is enough fertiliser in stock at depots, farmers of many districts are complaining about the short supply of fertilisers and unable to get as per their requirement for winter crop plantation.

"Due to the existing distribution system of chemical fertilizers, the districts with high demand compared to the districts with low demand have not been supplied in sufficient quantities. As a result, there has been a problem with fertiliser in some places. This means that there is a need to revise the provincial quota system based on season and demand," he told The Rising Nepal.

He assured that the present management of the AICL can import and distribute the required amount of fertilisers if the government provides a budget in time.

Meanwhile, according to our correspondent, farmers of Gaidahawa Rural Municipality-5 of Rupandehi have become angry after they did not get fertiliser when they went to collect fertilizer

Narayan Panthi, chairman of Nava Jagriti Integrated Farmers Group, who went to the AICL in Bhairawa with farmers of the group to get fertilizer, complained that they did not get the fertiliser.

He said that they should join with agricultural cooperatives that are close to politics to get fertiliser.

Chief administrative officer of Gaidahwa Rural Municipality Krishna Prasad Panthi said that fertilisers will not be provided except agriculture groups citing that the cooperatives have taken responsibility to sell fertilisers.