Around 42,000 MT of chemical fertiliser in stock, claims government

The government claimed that there is adequate chemical fertilizer for crop plantations for this season. 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), there is around 42,000 metric tonnes (MT) of chemical fertiliser in depots of the state-owned organisations across the country. 

The spokesperson of ministry Prakash Kumar Sanjel today confirmed that there is enough availability of fertiliser at present. Some 86,246 MT of chemical fertiliser has been sold and distributed in four months – from mid-July to mid-November – of the current fiscal year and some 42,981 MT of fertiliser is still available, he said, adding that of the total stock, some 21,763 MT urea, some 19,286 MT are di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and remaining around 1,932 MT potassium is in the stock.

Krishi Samagri Company (Agriculture Inputs Company Ltd) has some 35,499 MT and Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has some 7,534 MT of fertiliser in stock. “Krishi Samagri Company has 15,179 MT of urea, some 18,432 MT of DAP and some 1,837 MT potash. Likewise, STC has some 6,584 MT urea, some 854 MT DAP and some 95 MT potash in its stock.”

However, farmers face shortage of fertilizers every year during the plantation season, also due to mismanagement of the stocks and delay in imports. Due to lack of timely fertilizer, the 'agriculture country' Nepal has been cursed to import billions of agriculture produces every year to feed its population.

Milk to cost Rs 38 per packet from Saturday

Milk will cost Rs 38 for a half-litre packet from Saturday as the farm gate price has increased. Currently, it costs Rs 35 for a half-litre packet of milk.
Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has agreed to increase the price of milk by Rs 6 per litre to Rs 76 per litre after the continuous pressure from dairy cooperatives and private dairies.
Out of this increased price, farmers will get Rs 4.16 more per litre for a total of Rs 52.46 per litre. Dairy processing companies will get Rs 23.54 per litre, up by Rs 1.84 from earlier, the DDC said in a press note.
Earlier, the DDC had hiked the milk price on August 17, 2017.
The DDC has decided to revise the price upward after receiving the green signal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development on Thursday, according to the state-owned dairy. “The corporation had proposed the ministry to hike the price to provide relief to milk producers, who have been complaining of a sharp rise in production costs in the past two years,” it confirmed, adding that the ministry’s green signal to jack up the price has helped increased the share of farmer take home money.
Currently, the domestic market is dominated by the Dairy Development Corporation that captures a 40 per cent market share in the country’s dairy business and acts as a market maker.
The Central Dairy Cooperative Association and private dairies have been since for the past few months pressuring the government to hike the milk price by Rs 6 to Rs 10 per litre. They had also warned the government of protest, if the price was not increased.
Nepal produces 2.25 million tonnes of milk daily, of which half is consumed at the local level, one-third is sold by farmers directly to their customers, whereas the rest is packaged and labeled for sale through business outlets, according to the DDC, according to the National Dairy Development Board. “Of the total milk produced in the country, Kathmandu Valley consumes around 60 per cent as the demand for milk in the Valley stands at 500,000 litres daily.”
The government has recently banned the powdered milk imports, and rise in demand with the start of the festival season, and also due to ongoing lean season – from April to September when the milk production drops by 15 per cent – Valley is witnessing the shortage of milk.
The DDC produces powdered milk at its plant in Biratnagar, apart from two private companies – Chitwan Milk in Bharatpur and Sujal Dairy in Pokhara – also produce powdered milk. The total production of the three factories stands at 1,700 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes annually, according to the board.

Major regional meeting examines new approaches to improve fertilizer use in South Asia

Government officials, researchers and other experts from across South Asia are gathering in Nepal to share their experiences with effective ways to promote the balanced use of fertilizers and explore innovative approaches that improve the application of these important nutrients in the region.
The regional policy dialogue, ‘Innovations for Advancing Farmers’ Use of Balanced Nutrient Application in South Asia,’ will include presentations on the experiences of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with balanced application of nutrients. Senior government officials, policy advisors, researchers, representatives of the fertilizer industry, digital innovators in the extension space, grassroots organizations, and donors engaged in soil nutrient management are set to participate in the discussion.
“Balanced fertilizer application is a vital issue for the region,” country director for India at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Arabinda Padhee, said, adding that the proper application of these nutrients can increase farm productivity and boost profitability for farmers without compromising quality and environmental outcomes. “These discussions will help us develop recommendations on improving fertilizer policy in South Asia.”
Imbalanced fertilizer use has been a widespread problem in South Asia, due largely to distortionary subsidies and a lack of scientific information and adequate extension messaging on soil health and crop nutrient requirements among farmers. Over the last decade, countries in South Asia have tested an array of policies, technologies and extension approaches to address fertilizer prices and the information farmers have about using them effectively. Some of these changes have come to stay while others were quickly reversed.
“Today, we are seeing important market innovations in the fertilizer industry, including customized blends, the implementation of direct benefit transfer (DBT) programmes, and changes in the structure of subsidy programs,” said research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Avinash Kishore. “Our colleagues across the region have vital information to share about these new approaches, and the role that national policy can play in promoting them.”
The dialogue will also address the advancement of new technology for detecting existing soil properties and generating recommendations for balanced nutrient use, including soil health cards, digital soil maps, and new extension services.
“Technology is giving us new tools to speed up the soil testing process, increase its accuracy, and share this information with farmers,” senior research fellow at IFPRI David Spielman said, adding that the question now is what role national policies can play in expanding the use of these tool and reducing their cost.
Organisers say they hope the deliberations will encourage cross-country learnings from successes and failures and enable researchers and policy makers to take concrete actions in successful implementation of policy priorities.

National Conference for small farmers on Thursday

The Small Farmers Development Micro Finance is going to organise National Conference for small farmers-2075 in the capital from February 28 with an objective of attracting investment in agro sector.
The two-day conference – under the theme 'Prosperity of Small Scale Farmers: Transformation in Agriculture and Development of Entrepreneurship' – is going to be organised after four years.
"Some 1,200 people including national and international experts, innovators, planning experts, policy makers and students will participate in the conference," vice chair of the Conference main organising committee Khem Bahadur Pathak said, adding that the conference will help in different activities including poverty alleviation, food security, end of starvation, production development, creating employment and environment conservation. "A total of 28 working papers would be presented in the conference."
The Small Farmers Development Micro Finance Ltd said that the representatives of more than 1,000 small-scale farmers' groups across the nation are going to take part in the conference.

Agriculture Ministry seeks Rs 90 billion

Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has sought around Rs 90 billion for new programmes that is expected boost agricultural products and substitute agri produce imports.
The proposed projects – including Farmers Welfare Programme worth Rs 50 billion, One Municipality One Model Farm worth Rs 20 billion, Youth Employment Special Programme worth Rs 5 billion, Food Hygiene and Standards Programme worth Rs 5 billion, Agri Market Promotion Project worth Rs 5 billion, Paddy Production Programme worth Rs 4 billion and Agriculture Research and Extension programme worth Rs 1 billion – worth around Rs 90 billion.
Agriculture secretary Yubak Dhoj GC today presented at least seven medium and long-term projects to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. "The food production has been increasing in an arithmetic progression but demand is growing in a geometric progression," GC briefed the premier.
According to the Department of Customs (DoC), Nepal imported farm products worth Rs 215.50 billion in the last fiscal year, up by 10 per cent compared to a year ago. The share of agro products in the total import bill – of Rs 1,243 billion – has swelled to 17 per cent in the last fiscal year.
The food import bill in 2009-10 stood at Rs 44.43 billion, which almost doubled to Rs 76.05 billion in 2011-12 and to Rs 99.35 billion in 2012-13, and tripled to Rs 127.51 billion in five years in the fiscal year 2013-14, though Nepal is agriculture country. In the fiscal year 2014-15, Nepal imported agro products worth Rs 157.78 billion four times increment in 6 years.
Among the agriculture produces, cereal tops the list followed by edible oil, vegetables and food and animal fodder. According to the data, the cereal import bill amounted to Rs 44.52 billion in the last fiscal year, up from Rs 40.14 billion a year ago.
Likewise, edible oil imports touched Rs 29.72 billion in the last fiscal year, up from Rs 28.83 billion a year ago.
The vegetable import bill has also increased to Rs 22.67 billion in the last fiscal year from Rs 21.50 billion a fiscal year ago. The import of rice has also increased due to demand of aromatic and fine rice as the increasing middle-income population prefers to eat basmati rice, which is not grown in sufficient quantities in Nepal.
Though, Nepali agri produces including fresh vegetables, lentils, large cardamom and ginger are popular in Gulf countries, lack of standards, processing and packaging of these products made it difficult for the Nepali produces' export.
Likewise, Nepali tea, coffee, honey and herbs are popular in Europe, Japan, the US and Australia, but they also have branding, certification and quality issues.
Implemented in November 2016, the 10-year Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project – launched to boost agriculture production and substitute imports – has failed to increase production and boost exports putting pressure on import bill.

Government orders industrialists to pay sugarcane farmers in 5 days

The government ordered the industrialists to pay the dues of the sugarcane farmers within five days. The government today issued the directive to clear the dues of the sugarcane farmers, after repeated complaints of farmers not being paid their dues from earlier years.
A meeting of the ministers for Finance, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Industry and Supplies, Forests and Environment, and General Administration – along with the secretaries – took the decision to give the industrialists an ultimatum, agriculture minister Chakrapani Khanal informed. The government has also warned the industrialists of punishment, if they failed to clear their dues to the farmers within 5 days, he said, adding that different organisations of sugarcane farmers – yesterday – had warned to take to the streets after their dues were not cleared for long.
According to the recommendation of the Agriculture Ministry, the government had fixed Rs 536.56 for a quintal of sugarcane to the farmers including Rs 65.28 in grant from the government. However, the farmers have not yet received the money even after six months of the decision.
The farmers' claimed that the sugar mills have to pay Rs 2 billion and the government has to pay Rs 1.28 billion in grant to the farmers.
Out of 31 registered sugar mills, some 13 are in operation, which crush sugarcane to produce sugar. The government – on September 17 – had fixed sugar import quota for the current fiscal year at 100,000 tonnes to save domestic industries and help clear them the stock.
While the sugarcane farmers are yet to get their payment, sugar mills have been raising sugar price after the government imposed import restriction. The sugar price has already been raised to Rs 75 from Rs 60 per kg.