House issues directives to govt for timely supply of chemical fertiliser

KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have drawn the attention of the government to provide chemical fertiliser to farmers in an accessible way. In Monday's meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR), the lawmakers asked the government to apply all possible measures to provide chemical fertiliser to the farmers. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said chemical fertiliser is necessary to increase agricultural production, adding that serious attention of the HoR was drawn to the unavailability of the chemical fertiliser at the time of paddy plantation. The directives reads, "The HoR meeting directs the Government of Nepal to ensure availability of chemical fertiliser to farmers to resolve the problems of agriculture sector that contributes around 25 per cent in the country’s GDP." Govt effortful to ensure supply of chemical fertiliser The government has said timely supply of chemical fertiliser this year has become a tough task due to a prolonged process of procurement. Reform in the procurement process is emphasised as farmers have not received the chemical fertiliser in time and the outcome was not positive at times while trusting the business people involved in the competitive bidding. At the HoR meeting, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahindra Raya Yadav said relevant effort from all sides was imperative since the issue of chemical fertiliser was the country’s common problem. He stressed the need for special initiatives for the government to government negotiations to import the chemical fertiliser, and added the government was working for this. He, however, said establishment of a factory was the best option for the supply of chemical fertiliser adding that the Investment Board of Nepal was holding talks for the same. Informing the House that request has been made to the Indian government for the supply of 500,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser through government-to-government mode, Minister Yadav stated that chemical fertiliser is being imported from India as per the agreement to supply 150,000 metric tonnes of quantity in the current fiscal year. Based on the talks with the Indian government officials, more than 50,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser will arrive by the first week of July, he shared. Minister Yadav presented the fact that the supply chain of chemical fertilizer was affected due to increase in the prices of the fuel in the world market. Even in India, liquid nitrogen is being used as an alternative use of chemical fertiliser and Nepal has received 500,000 litres and the remaining 4.5 million litres is being imported soon, Minister Yadav told the House. On the occasion, he said the government has written to India, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan for the supply of chemical fertiliser but no response has been received so far. Minister Yadav said Rs 15 billion was allocated for the chemical fertiliser and source equal to Rs 12.71 billion has been assured in the current fiscal year. Minister Yadav was of the view that price of chemical fertiliser has increased due to Russia-Ukraine conflict lately and Nepal is also at the receiving end. On the occasion, Minister Yadav sought support from all sides to ensure supply of chemical fertiliser within a month. READ ALSO:

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