Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that he has paid special attention to prevent shortage of chemical fertilizers, "According to the information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, 28 thousand 824 tons of fertilizers are currently available. 140 thousand 504 tons is about to arrive.

If there is a lack of fertilizer somewhere, he has told to inform the relevant authorities. "Agricultural materials have 29 thousand 111 tons and salt trading company has 13 thousand 712 tons of fertilizer," Oli wrote. But the statistics of fertilizers released by Prime Minister Oli have not been accounted for. 

Prime Minister Oli has said that there are 28 thousand 824 tons of fertilizer in stock. But according to the information given by him, adding the balance with the agricultural company and salt trading reaches 42 thousand 824 tons. But the farmer says that the balance is only limited to paper. 

Although it is available in some places, there is still a shortage when considering the whole country. There is no official chemical fertilizer in the market," said Panchkaji Shrestha, President of Farmers' Group Federation of Nepal, "Even though the fertilizer is in stock in the government data, the real farmers have not received it. Even if it is available in some places, one has to stand in line for hours for a bag of chemical fertilizer. However, they have not received fertilizer as per the demand. 

Jeevan Shahi, a farmer of Bardiya Thakurbaba Municipality-1, said that he has to stand in line from morning till night to get a bag of fertilizer in the case of subsidized fertilizer. "Due to the lack of water, planting was delayed at first, now the rains have sown the seedlings. But it is very difficult to get fertilizer," said Shahi, "I got one bag of fertilizer, it is like getting the prasad of the goddess." He said that although the cooperative in Thakurbaba municipality received 80 bags of fertilizer, the number of farmers is more than 200.

They tried to apply fertilizer since May to plant rice, but could not find it. Fertilizer was not applied at the time of planting. Now, during Godmail, about 80 sacks have come to the cooperative, but the number of farmers is more than 200," he said. "Farmers have to stand in line early to get fertilizer.

Rajkumar Shukla, a farmer of Banke Duduwa Rural Municipality-1, also said that there is a problem of manure in the rural municipality. He said that since the government could not provide fertilizers, India used low quality fertilizers. Government subsidized fertilizer was available for 1000 rupees. If the agricultural company did not give the fertilizer, the cooperative did not distribute it, he said, at this time the middlemen have become more active. We are forced to pay 2400 rupees for low-quality fertilizer bags imported from India. Initially, Indian fertilizer was available for 1500 rupees per bag. Traders have increased the price of Indian fertilizer after the government did not provide it. 

Planting has been delayed due to drought in Madhesh. Due to the drought, the bad seeds were burned somewhere, were about to dry up, wells and boreholes dried up and there was also a shortage of drinking water. Problems were seen in Madhesh due to the decrease in the underground water level, as well as less water coming from borings.

The government has declared Madhesh as a crisis and has announced a program to hold 500 deep borings in the districts of Madhesh. But there is no speed in implementation. After the recent rains, planting has been going on in full swing. But experts say that spilled seeds will reduce productivity. On top of that, the problem of manure has increased. 

Farmers who have faced shortage of fertilizer at the time of planting say that they also face shortage at the time of sowing. Tikaram Vick, a farmer of Dhangadhimai Municipality in Siraha, said that even though most of the plants have been planted due to lack of water, they are worried about fertilizers. "Those who need a bag of fertilizer only get 20 kg, that too is only available due to access," said Vic, "Since the subsidy fertilizer is not available, the farmers have to buy Indian fertilizer at a high price." He says that the arrival of illegal fertilizers from India has given the farmers a little relief. "Many districts including Bardia, Banke and others have a problem with manure. But the government does not seem to have taken a concrete decision in terms of providing fertilizer," said Bhusal. "If it had not come from India, it would have been a bigger problem. There has been a problem with fertilizer every year, but ironically no solution has been found." 

About 11 to 1.2 million tons of chemical fertilizers are required for crops. If an average of 7 lakh tons of chemical fertilizers is provided, there will be no complaints from the general public. But the government has provided only 3.5 to 4 lakh tons of fertilizer on an annual average. Farmers say that there is a shortage. They say that it should be made easier by distributing more fertilizer in areas where rice is planted and less fertilizer in areas where rice is planted. 

The government-subsidized fertilizers are being transported by agricultural material companies and Salt. In the last financial year, the government had allocated 27.95 billion budget to buy fertilizer. The target was to purchase 550,000 tons. 3 lakh 93 thousand 83 tons have been imported till June 32, 2082 including the remainder of 2080/81. Out of which agricultural companies imported 320 thousand 609 tons and salt 72 thousand 473 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the ministry, 4 lakh 41 thousand 315 tons were sold from July 1, 2081 to June 32, 2082. 

aims to purchase about 600,000 tonnes of fertilizer in 2082/83. The government has allocated 28 billion 82 crores to buy fertilizers. 25 thousand 413 tons have been imported from 1st to 20th July 2082 including the volume of transit in the last financial year. But due to problems in sales and distribution, farmers have not been able to get fertilizer easily. 

Due to the complexity of the manure distribution procedure, the manure in one province cannot be easily transported to another province. Experts say that is why there is a problem. Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Januka Pandit claimed that there is no problem in the supply of chemical fertilizers.

'Imported fertilizers are entrusted to the state government for distribution. Distribution is done from the province to the farmers through municipalities and cooperatives," she said. "There is no problem from the central government. The problem has been seen in the municipality. He claims that the central government has tendered for the purchase of fertilizer according to the demand of the farmers. But she claimed that when the stool did not come at once, she sent it to the province as soon as it arrived.

Fertilizer inventory claimed by the government (in tonnes) 

in agricultural materials company 

Uria : 16 thousand 539 

DAP : 7 thousand 653 

potash : 4 thousand 919 

total : 29 thousand 111 

Salt Trading Company

Urea : 10 thousand 984 

DAP : 942 

potash : 1 thousand 785 

total: 13 thousand 712 

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Instructions to bring concrete plan to make fertilizer distribution more efficient

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has given instructions to bring a concrete plan with a new framework to make chemical fertilizer distribution more efficient.