May 11: Preparations are underway to bring chemical fertilizer from India within mid-June through the G2G process to prevent shortage of fertilizer during planting season. According to the concerned officials, 100,000 metric tons of fertilizers will be brought to Nepal by mid-June.

The Government of Nepal had signed an agreement with the Indian government last February to bring 935,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer through the G2G process in the next five years. The agreement did not specify when and at what price.

According to the Agriculture Inputs Company Limited, the officials of the two countries have been entrusted with the task of importing fertilizer through fast-track process as the paddy plantation season is just a month away.

A team including Rajendra Bahadur Karki, managing director of the Agriculture Inputs Company, met Indian officials last Thursday and returned back after finalizing a deal to import fertilizers through fast track. According to Karki, the process of importing fertilizers is in its final stage.

No tax will be levied on import of fertilizers. India has agreed not to collect service charges. Similarly, India will provide fertilizer to Nepal by fixing the price according to the price it originally purchased at. If the price fluctuates in the international market, prices will be fixed accordingly. Karki informed that the government of India also agreed to transport fertilizers to Nepal's warehouse.

In the first phase, a of 100,000 metric tons of fertilizers including a shipment of 60,000 metric tons of urea and 40,000 metric tons of DAP will be brought to the warehouses of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited within the next two weeks.

Karki said that the remaining 50,000 metric tons of fertilizer agreed to be brought in the current fiscal year will arrive by June 29.

Nepal needs about 800,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer annually. About 150,000 metric tons are required for the annual crop.

If it is too late to bring fertilizers via G2G, there will be a shortage of fertilizers at the time of planting this year as well. At present, the Agriculture Inputs Company  has only 15,500 metric tons of DAP, 386 metric tons of urea and 6,700 metric tons of potassium. The Salt Trading Corporation, which has been distributing subsidized fertilizers, does not have any fertilizer in stock.

Salt Trading's fertilizer store has been empty for 4 months

The stockpile of Salt Trading Corporation, which is entrusted with the task of importing and selling government-subsidized fertilizer, has been empty for about four months due to problems in importing fertilizer through global tender along with the rising price of chemical fertilizer in the international market.

Officials of the corporation say that there is a problem in importing fertilizer due to the fluctuation in price at the time of purchase compared to the price at the time of tender.

Due to the recent hike in prices due to Russia-Ukraine war, the corporation has not been able to procure 75,000 metric tons of fertilizers through global tenders. The price of urea has gone up from 455 USD at the time of opening the global tender to 1100 USD now.

The price of DAP has gone up from 650 USD to 1300 USD, said Kumar Rajbhandari, spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation. He said that if the fertilizer is not received through global tender in time, it will have to depend on the fertilizer imported from G2G.