DOTI, July 3: Farmers in Doti are worried over the shortage of chemical fertilizer. They are bound to transplant paddy despite not having chemical fertilizer.
They are irate over the government's failure to supply the essential input even during the peak time of transplantation. The Agriculture Inputs Company, Dipayal has admitted that they could not supply the necessary amount of chemical fertilizer as there was little import from India.
Paddy is planted on at least 10,898 hectares of land in the district, according to the Province Agriculture Directorate, Dipayal. So far, paddy transplantation has been completed only on 25 percent of the land.
Farmers to face fertilizer shortage next year too
A resident from Silgadhi Municipality-4, Karna Bahadur Kathayat, expressed sadness that they would not have a good harvest of rice because urea fertilizer was not available during the plantation. "When there is no fertilizer during cultivation, how can the crops yield a good harvest?" he asked, adding survival is becoming difficult for the farmers.
It is the peak season for rice plantation, but the farmers are hit by the scarcity of fertilizers, said Suraj Bahadur BK from Pipalla of Dipayal. "Whose failure is it behind the unavailability of fertilizer?" he asked.
The farmers here have blamed the Agriculture Inputs Company, the agency to manage chemical fertilizer in the district, for the unavailability of fertilizers.
Another farmer Ram Bahadur Damai from Kalagadh of Shikhar Municipality-2, said, "In the fields where paddy was transplanted three weeks back, the crop has not grown well."
Although there is scarcity of urea, DAP and potassium fertilizers in the district, plenty of rainfall has taken the farmers to their fields for rice plantation.
Senior officer at the Province Agriculture Directorate at Dipayal, Yagya Raj Joshi, suggested the farmers use compost to meet the need.
(RSS)
