Lawmakers have drawn attention of the government to provide chemical fertiliser to farmers in an accessible way. In today's meeting of the House of Representatives, the lawmakers asked the government to apply all possible measures to provide chemical fertiliser to the farmers.
Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said chemical fertilizer 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."
Meanwhile 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.
Speaking in today’s House of Representatives (HoR) meeting, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahindra Raya Yadav said relevant effort of all was imperative since the issue of chemical fertiliser was the country’s common problem. Stressing the need for special initiatives for the government to government negotiations to import the chemical fertiliser, Minister Yadav said 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.