NEPALGUNJ, June 18: More than 650 farmers have demanded chemical fertilisers for summer farming from Shivashakti Agriculture Cooperative in Ward No. 7 of Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality in Banke. If distributed as per demand, each farmer would receive around three sacks of fertiliser on average. However, the cooperative has received only 68 sacks of urea and 15 sacks of DAP.
The rural municipality had fixed a quota for fertiliser distribution to the cooperative. Based on this allocation, the cooperative plans to distribute the available stock among farmers. However, officials say they are uncertain how to fairly distribute the limited supply among the large number of applicants. If divided equally from the stock received from Agriculture Inputs Company Limited (AICL), each farmer would receive only 10 to 15 kilograms.
The cooperative’s manager, Kanchhed Kumar Gupta, who met at the premises of AICL in Nepalgunj, said fertiliser distribution has always been challenging due to shortages compared to farmers’ demand.
“We have not received fertiliser in sufficient quantities. If we distribute according to the quota while taking it to the village, we ourselves become insecure; there is even a risk of being attacked,” he told Republica. “Since the government cannot supply fertiliser as per demand, we are forced to face farmers’ anger.”
Gupta said fertiliser distribution every year requires police security and stressed that the government should find a long-term solution to the crisis.
With the monsoon farming season underway, a large crowd of farmers has been gathering daily at Kalika Multipurpose Cooperative in Khajura Rural Municipality in search of fertiliser. The rural municipality has allocated 58 sacks of urea, 15 sacks of DAP, and three sacks of potash to the cooperative.
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Cooperative staff member Jamuna Aryal, who went to the AICL office to collect fertiliser under the allocated quota, said farmers continue to visit the office daily. “If we distribute the limited fertiliser provided by Agriculture Inputs Company among all farmers as demanded, it will not be enough,” she said.
The cooperative currently has demand for more than 100 sacks of fertiliser from farmers. Aryal said farmers face such problems every year due to inadequate government supply and added that cooperatives are often caught in disputes because of shortages.
The government has allocated 70 percent of fertiliser import and distribution responsibilities to AICL and 30 percent to Salt Trading Corporation (STC). STC currently has no fertiliser stock in Nepalgunj.
AICL has been distributing fertiliser through cooperatives in limited quantities from its available stock. Pushpa Raj Shrestha, chief of AICL Nepalgunj, said fertiliser is distributed to listed cooperatives based on stock availability and quotas assigned by all eight local levels in Banke.
“We have already started supplying fertiliser through cooperatives. We have some stock of urea, DAP, and potash, but it is not sufficient to meet demand,” he said.
For the current fiscal year 2025/26, Banke had requested 7,000 metric tonnes of urea, 4,000 tonnes of DAP, and 200 tonnes of potash. However, it received 4,753.5 metric tonnes of urea, 2,682 tonnes of DAP, and 215 tonnes of potash.
Out of this, 4,315.150 metric tonnes of urea, 2,219.800 tonnes of DAP, and 119.100 tonnes of potash had been sold by mid-May of the fiscal year.
The company currently has only 506 metric tonnes of urea, 483 tonnes of DAP, and 102 tonnes of potash remaining in Nepalgunj as of mid-June, Shrestha said. He added that an additional 4,000 metric tonnes of urea and 2,500 tonnes of DAP have been requested for paddy farming during the monsoon season. “Compared to demand, procurement is still low,” he said.
AICL sells fertiliser to cooperatives with a profit margin of Rs 50 per sack. This rate was fixed before fuel prices increased.
According to Shrestha, urea is supplied to cooperatives at Rs 884 per sack, DAP at Rs 2,334 per sack, and potash at Rs 1,734 per sack. Local governments also allow cooperatives to add Rs 50 per sack as profit while selling to farmers. “Farmers engaged in agriculture can obtain fertiliser from their local cooperatives. It is not necessary to be a cooperative member,” Shrestha said. “Cooperatives must distribute fertiliser based on quota without discrimination. Any violation will result in action if complaints are filed.”
AICL Chairman Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha said fertiliser shortages are largely due to dependence on the international market. “Fertiliser is not something you can buy like sugar or tea. It takes around seven months to procure,” he said. “That is why we begin the tender process mid-year for supplies in the next fiscal year.”
He added that procurement delays, international market procedures, and supplier bottlenecks contribute to late imports. However, he said AICL currently has around 140,000 tonnes of fertiliser in stock. “We depend on the international market. Even then, we have around 140,000 tonnes in stock, while many countries face worse shortages,” he said.
He added that another 140,000 tonnes already in the procurement pipeline are expected to arrive by mid-September or mid-October.
Chairman Shrestha also said government budget allocation is insufficient to meet demand. “If we were to buy 600,000 tonnes annually as per farmers’ demand, it would require Rs 72 billion. For 800,000 tonnes, it would exceed Rs 100 billion,” he said.
He also noted that rising chemical fertiliser use has degraded soil fertility and urged farmers to shift towards organic fertiliser to reduce dependency. “That would reduce pressure on imports, ease the financial burden on the state, and improve soil quality,” he said.
