Govt kicks farmers in the teeth

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 07 -
Dealing a hard blow to farmers, the government on Thursday hiked the price of subsidised chemical fertiliser by 30 percent.

According to the revised rates, Urea, Di-amonium Phosphate (DAP) and Potash will now cost Rs. 18, Rs. 32 and Rs. 20 per kg, respectively, in bordering towns such as Biratnagar, Birgunj and Bhairahawa. The revised price will come into effect from Friday.

Earlier, the government had been selling subsidised Urea, DAP and Potash at Rs. 12.50, Rs. 27.26 and Rs. 14.50, respectively, through Agriculture Inputs Company (AIC). As per the new rate, the price of Urea has been hiked by 44 percent, DAP by 17.39 percent and Potash by 37.93 percent.

Fertiliser price has been increased in line with the price in the international market as well as to increase the bulk of fertilisers for the next fiscal year, said Hari Dahal, spokesman at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC). Inadequate availability of fertilisers has affected agriculture production and has hit paddy plantation this year. The government, in the last fiscal year, had allocated Rs. 1.77 billion to import over 100,000 tons of chemical fertilisers.

“Although, the budget ceiling for subsidised fertilisers in this fiscal year has increased to Rs. 2.30 billion, the price hike in the international market forced the Agriculture Ministry to hike the price,” said Dahal. MoAC will now purchase more quantity of fertilisers with the increased budget.

“We resorted to the move to double the quantity. The Agriculture Ministry will be able to import 200,000 tons of fertiliser this fiscal year,” he said. However, even the doubled quantity of fertiliser will not meet the country’s total demand that stands at 500,000 tons.

The fertiliser price in the international market has increased significantly in the recent days. The price of DAP has gone up to US$ 640 per tonne from US$ 439 per tonne.

Similarly, the price of Urea increased to US$ 415 per tonne from US$ 329 per tonne.

The Cabinet meeting on Sept. 28 had entrusted the responsibility to fix fertiliser price to MoAC.