KATHMANDU, July 15: While the rice transplantation season has already begun, the government is just giving assurances to farmers to make adequate supply of chemical fertilizers instead of acting promptly to maintain the supply.
Speaking at a program on Thursday, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav said the government has purchased 50,000 tons of urea fertilizer which will be imported from Oman by next week. As a continuation of perennial problems, this year too, farmers have been struggling to get sufficient amounts of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) amid peak time of rice transplantation.
Farmers to face fertilizer shortage next year too
According to Minister Yadav, the Agriculture Inputs Company will be importing 30,000 tons of urea while the remaining 20,000 tons will be imported by the Salt Trading Corporation Limited. “Citing the ongoing shortage, we have asked the officials concerned not to create any hurdles of customs related processes to the fertilizers that the farmers bring from India,” he said.
Time and again, the lawmakers during parliament meetings have been raising the issue of the shortage of fertilizers even with the starting of the cultivation season this year. In response, parliamentary committees and Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Agni Prasad Sapkota, had repeatedly directed the government to ensure the adequate supply of the agriculture inputs on time.
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