BIRATNAGAR: The consignment of DAP fertilizer that arrived at Krishi Samagri Kampany Limited, Morang, after two years is too little in quantity to be distributed among farmers. The fertilizer brought from Jordan has created confusion in the distribution as the company acquired only 400 metric tonnes despite the demand for 4,500 metric tonnes.

Farmers, unable to get fertilizer for the last two years, are exerting pressure on the Biratnagar office to supply more. They have also warned of an agitation if the fertilizer is not made available on time. Last year, farmers paid Rs 2000 for a 50 kg sack of fertilizer as the company failed to distribute the subsidized fertilizer.

According to Hari Regmi, chief of the office, 200 metric tonnes of the fertilizer has already been acquired and another 200 metric tonnes are to arrive.

The farmers, who prefer the fertilizer

distributed by the company to smuggled

fertilizers, are compelled to purchase low standard fertilizer as the season for cultivating wheat begins from Mangsir.

The company has decided to distribute the fertilizer through cooperatives and a long queue of farmers is always lined up outside the cooperatives. The price of subsidized fertilizer has been fixed at Rs 1,421 per 50 kg sack.

The company has purchased only 12000 metric tonnes for the whole country. Of this, 1550 metric tonnes has been separated for the eastern development region.

A committee chaired by the Chief District Officer including representatives of the Land Revenue office, Agriculture office and DDC has been formed to manage the distribution process. Regmi said that the committee will ease the distribution by determining the quota for each cooperative at the recommendation of the VDCs.

Meanwhile, the company said that urea required for wheat will be arriving at Biratnagar after two weeks.

Urea is used along with water in wheat farms after 25 days of its sowing. The central office of the company is also going to bring 600 metric tonnes of urea from China for Morang.

The office claimed there woould not be any shortage of urea as the company has stored some of its old stock.