April 10: It is speculated that this year's winter crop will be affected as the companies that have been awarded contracts to import subsidized chemical fertilizers will not be able to deliver the fertilizers on time.

The four companies, Silk Market Pvt Ltd, Zen Trade, JS Trade Company and Indian Potash Limited, had signed separate contracts with the state-owned Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and the Salt Trading Corporation for the import of chemical fertilizers. But they failed to import the fertilizers even after the deadline of the contract period.

Ashok Kumar Khadka, information officer of the Agriculture Inputs Company says that there is only a slim possibility for the companies to bring fertilizer on time. He said, “If this situation continues, the chances of fertilizer coming are low in future as well.” He stated that the failure of the companies to import fertilizer was due to the Covid-19 pandemic and China's new export policy.

Farmers are continuously facing the problem of not getting chemical fertilizer every year during the farming season. There are indications that the circumstances will repeat this year as well.

According to Kumar Rajbhandari, spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Indian Potash Limited had signed a contract with the corporation last December for importing 25,000 metric tons of DAP and 75,000 tons of urea. It is a state-owned company of India. It supplied only 25,000 tons of DAP within the deadline. As for the remaining 75,000 tons of urea, it is yet to be decided whether the company is going to deliver the consignment or not.

The other three companies that signed contracts with the Agriculture Inputs Company have not been able to import chemical fertilizers even a month after their contract expired. A Nepali company called Silk Market had signed an agreement with Agriculture Inputs Company to import 60,000 tons of urea and 5,000 tons of DAP, but the deadline has already expired. Similarly, Jane Trade had entered into two separate agreements with Agriculture Inputs Company for importing 25,000 tons of urea and 5,000 tons of DAP. Another company, JS Trade, had agreed to import 25,000 tons of DAP with the Agriculture Inputs Company. The period for all these contracts have already expired, but, there are no signs for the import of chemical fertilizers.

According to Information Officer Khadka of the Agriculture Inputs Company, despite the expiration of the deadline for importing the chemical fertilizers, none of the companies have said they are not able to supply the fertilizers. He said that they are confident that they will bring the fertilizers soon. At present, the Agriculture Inputs Company has a stock of 500 tons of urea, 20,000 tons of DAP and 7,500 tons of potassium. Meanwhile, the Salt Trading Corporation has no fertilizers in reserve.

Spokesperson for Salt Trading, Rajbhandari said that due to the ongoing fluctuations in the global market, there may be shortage of chemical fertilizers in the coming days. He estimates that the problem may be due to the continuous rise in the price of fertilizers in the world market. According to Rajbhandari, the price of chemical fertilizer has gone up from 455 USD per ton to 1100 USD per ton.