Government to reduce subsidy for farmers under PMAMP

The government is going to reduce subsidy to farmers under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project (PMAMP) also due to its ineffectiveness.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) that is in the process of revising the framework of PMAMP – after the direction of Finance Ministry – has formed a committee to conduct studies of the PMAMP framework. The Finance Ministry has asked Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to reduce farmer subsidy to 50 per cent from 80 per cent.
The ministry is planning to reduce subsidy for farmers involved in fruits, vegetables, flowers and livestock farming,” according to the ministry. “The current framework has a provision to provide up to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers for their agriculture businesses.”
The study committee submits its report which will help prepare the new draft of Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project framework, which will be sent to the cabinet for approval.
The Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project – a 10-year project of the Agriculture Ministry – was first introduced in the fiscal year 2016- 17 to transform agricultural sector from subsistence farming to commercial farming.
Though, the country has been transformed into federal system, the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project depends on the central government. Thus, the ministry is planning to distribute the responsibility to the province.

Onion prices hit record Rs 200 per kg

Onion prices touched a record Rs 200 per kilogram (kg) in the markets.
The four times price hike of the onion – in the last three months – is attributed to the short supply from the northern neighbour. Nepal is dependent on imported onions from India due to inadequate domestic production. But India imposed a ban on the export of onion – last month – due to lack of adequate supply back home.
Onion is one of most important vegetables imported from India as Nepal has imported Rs 5.62 billion worth onions from India in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported onions worth Rs 1.3 billion during the first three months of the current fiscal year beginning mid-July compared to Rs 1.2 billion in the same period in the last fiscal year, according to the Department of Customs.
“There is no sign of prices cooling down any time soon,” according to the vegetable sellers. Likewise, the consumers have also started skipping the onion from their daily meals as the prices have increased beyond their imagination.
The prices in India have shot up due to a shortage triggered by unseasonal rainfall leading to crop damage in the main onion growing zones in Maharashtra of India, the Indian media reported, adding that traders fear a further spike in onion prices as a high amount of crops have been damaged by the unseasonal November rains.
But in Nepal, some traders have started importing onions from China to meet the short supply. “But Chinese onions are not as tasty as Indian onions,” according to the consumers.