SANGAM

Rs 2.3b to ease fertiliser woes
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, JUN 21 -
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has pledged Rs 2.30 billion for subsidised chemical fertilisers for the next fiscal year after the Ministry of Agriculture demanded more budget to meet the rising fertiliser demand.

The government has allocated Rs 1.50 billion for 100,000 tons of fertilisers, which covers only 20 percent of the total demand.

“The MoF has principally agreed to allocate the said amount in the next budget that will support about 250,000 tons of subsidised fertiliser import,” Hari Dahal, the spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC), said.

The ministry had proposed the amount to support import of 300,000 tons of fertiliser to the National Planning Commission.

The MoF has taken the move after fertiliser shortage mounted across the country.

With the existing supply, farmers across the country are suffering from an acute shortage of fertilisers.

After the government announced a subsidy in fertilisers to boost production, the private sector has completely stopped selling fertilisers that was highly expensive compared to the subsidised ones.

Agriculture covers over 4.4 million hectares of the country land, while the overall demand for fertilisers is 500,000 tons. “The amount proposed by the MoF for the next fiscal year is still not enough. However, farmers will surely be a relieved lot,” Dahal said.

He added that about Rs 7-8 billion is required to address the existing demand, while the government is not in a position to spend so much on fertilisers. While the use of fertilisers in Nepal is 20 kgs/hectare, China uses 260 kgs per hectare and India uses over 260/hectare.

Managing director of Agriculture Inputs Company

(AIC), Pashupati Gautam, said the fertiliser shortage will ease to some extent in a week as some amount of it has been imported.

He said the government’s “small budget” is to blame for the shortage.

According to him, the AIC has already distributed 82,000 tons of subsidised fertiliser. As 2,500 tons of fertilisers has arrived, it will ease the shortage in Kathmandu and its periphery to some extent.

The government had stopped distributing subsidised fertiliser in 1998. However, after 12 years, the government again started it after production in the country started to drop significantly and over 35 districts were declared as food deficit.

However, consumer rights activists blamed the shortage on the control of fertilisers by private sector entrepreneurs. They said private sector entrepreneurs are opening the letter of credit for the consignment of fertilisers in the name of AIC “following pressure from ministers.” The activists said there were massive irregularities in the AIC.