“Fertilizer is not available in the local market and we are not allowed purchase it from bordering Indian towns, either,” said Birendra Dadal of Hikila VDC-7. Dadal had taken a five-hour walk to reach Khalanga VDC to purchase fertilizer. [break]
Rajendra Wadu of Khalanga VDC-1 said he planted crops this season without using any fertilizer. “I visited District Agricultural Office (DAO) a couple of times but they always had excuses. I even tried to bring fertilizers from India but the police seized all my fertilizers at the border check-point,” said Wadu.
According to the DAO, the government had not allocated adequate budget for fertilizers in the last fiscal year. As a result, there is an acute shortage of government subsidized fertilizer. There is an annual demand for at least 11,800 quintals of fertilizers in Darchula.
“Since we did not receive the budget, we could not purchase adequate quantity of fertilizers,” said Indra Singh Thagunna, an officer at DAO.
“As for this year, we still don´t know how much budget will be allocated. We only hope that we don´t have to face fertilizer scarcity this year,” said Thagunna.
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