KATHMANDU, Dec 19: The first tranche of about 30,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer will arrive in Nepal this week following a government to government agreement signed with India.
The Agricultural Inputs Company (AIC) has purchased the fertilizer from the National Chemical Fertilizer (RCF) Company of India. Rajendra Bahadur Karki, acting general manager of Krishi Samagri Company Limited (KSCL), said that 30,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer was purchased for the first time after the government to government (G2G) agreement. "The fertilizer has arrived in Kolkata," Karki said.
When the fertilizer was procured through open bidding, the government did not provide it to the farmers on time. The government made a deal with India to bring fertilizer by reducing the procurement process. After G2G, the first batch of fertilizer will arrive soon. The government had decided to import 170,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizers from India. The company said that more fertilizers will also be imported gradually. After the G2G deal was entrusted with the purchase of fertilizer, KSCL was entrusted with the purchase of the fertilizer.
Special arrangement for Madhesh in upcoming budget: PM Dahal
The G2G deal includes an agreement for purchasing 565,000 metric tons of urea and 370,000 metric tons of DAP from India in the next five years. India agreed to give 170,000 metric tons of fertilizer in 2022/23, 195,000 metric tonnes in 2023/24, 20,110,000 metric tonnes in 2024/25 and 2,010,000 metric tons in 2025/26. When buying chemical fertilizers through a global tender, the government could not provide fertilizers to the farmers on time. So, the government has started bringing fertilizers by negotiating with India.
About 95,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizers are in the pipeline, according to the KSCL. "There is some fertilizer in stock. There is no shortage of fertilizers as some are in the process of arriving," said Karki. The KSCL currently has 10,500 metric tons of DAP, 21,700 metric tons of urea, and 1,225 metric tons of potash fertilizers. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the two companies including Salt Trading and KSCL have about 42,000 metric tons of fertilizer in stock.
The company has stated that it is working on planning the purchase of fertilizer for the current financial year as well as for the next year. The company has requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to manage an additional budget of seven billion rupees to manage enough fertilizer until July. "For the fertilizers required for the next financial year, the procurement process should be started now," said Acting General Manager Karki, “We have demanded to ensure the budget resources for next year's fertilizers.”
The country uses about 500,000 metric tons of fertilizers annually. On the basis of land, the demand for chemical fertilizers in Nepal is about 785,000 metric tons, however, less is used.
