By Our Correspondent Sindhulimadhi, July 6: Farmer Bishnu Lal Gautam, a resident of Kamalamai Municipality-2, Bhadrakali, reached Sindhulimadhi, the district headquarters, on Monday in search of chemical fertiliser.
Farmer Gautam, who is preparing to plant paddy after harvesting maize, said that he has come to the district headquarters looking for chemical fertiliser.
He said, “I am preparing to plant paddy in my 10 kattha land. Chemical fertiliser could not be applied even to maize. However, I have come looking for fertiliser to use for paddy. But I didn’t find it anywhere.”
He complained that he had not received any fertiliser since February when he went to the office of the Agricultural Inputs Company Limited (AICL) looking for chemical fertiliser.
Farmer Gautam is just an example of not getting the fertiliser. Farmers in Sindhuli district are frustrated as they do not get chemical fertiliser even during the paddy plantation season.
The AICL has said that there has been a shortage of fertiliser in Sindhuli district for more than five months even though the company has made arrangements to sell fertiliser to farmers through local agricultural cooperatives.
Although the district headquarters Sindhulimadhi-based AICL has been given the responsibility to distribute chemical fertilisers in Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Dolakha districts, it has not been able to supply due to lack of shortage. Chief of the AICL Nabaraj Mahat said that the warehouse has been empty since last February due to non-arrival of chemical fertiliser.
According to him, around 1,720 tonnes of urea, 594 tonnes of DAP and 38 tonnes of potash have been sold in three districts so far this year.
This year, it had an approved target to sell 2,000 tonnes of urea, 1,000 tonnes of DAP, 105 tonnes of potash and 21 tonnes of agricultural lime.
“The shortage of chemical fertilisers is a problem not only here, but also a problem all over the country. The warehouse is empty everywhere,” he said.
A total of 162 cooperatives in Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Dolakha districts have been selling the fertiliser.
About 50 to 60 per cent of the total supply is being sold in Sindhuli district and the remaining two districts.
He said that only 38 tonnes of potash was in stock in the warehouse of the AICL office at present.
Som Narayan Manandhar, a distributor of Dudbhanjyang Agricultural Cooperative in Golanjor Rural Municipality-1, said that there is a scarcity of chemical fertilisers.
According to him, the demand for chemical fertilisers for planting paddy is increasing in the village at present.The Rising Nepal
