Government ready to prevent fertilizer shortage, says Minister Chaudhary

Kathmandu: Minister for Agriculture, Forest and Environment Geeta Chaudhary has said that a total of 600,000 metric tons of fertilizer will be provided to farmers under subsidy by the end of the current fiscal year.

Responding to questions raised by lawmakers during the “Question and Answer related to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment” program in today’s meeting of the National Assembly, Minister Chaudhary informed that the government has been supplying chemical fertilizers to farmers under subsidy on a cost-sharing basis, with 558,522 metric tons already supplied in the current fiscal year.

She stated that 468,016 metric tons of fertilizer have been sold and distributed to farmers, while 168,802 metric tons are currently in stock.

Minister Chaudhary said, “The ministry is making various efforts and preparations to prevent fertilizer shortage during the rice planting season. In this regard, we have requested suppliers with whom we have already signed agreements to supply fertilizer on time.”

She further informed that 90,000 metric tons of fertilizer are expected to arrive in Nepal from the end of Asar to the month of Shrawan. She also said that the process of purchasing 30,000 metric tons of urea and 20,000 metric tons of DAP has been initiated in the first phase after receiving in-principle approval from the Cabinet to purchase 80,000 metric tons of fertilizer from friendly country India through the G2G procurement method.

Minister Chaudhary also informed the House that awareness messages have been circulated nationwide to promote balanced fertilizer use and encourage organic and biological fertilizers. She added that circulars have been issued to provincial and local governments and district administration offices to effectively implement the Granted Fertilizer Distribution Management Directive 2082, ensuring fair distribution of fertilizer to all farmers, preventing misuse of subsidized fertilizer, and making the distribution process easy, transparent, and systematic.