April 2: Golcha Group, one of the leading business houses of the country which has been operating dozens of manufacturing industries, is now planning to open an organic fertilizer factory. Golcha Group said it is preparing to the organic fertilizer factory as a substitute to chemical fertilizers which have caused loss to the soil fertility.

Hitesh Golchha, director of Diwakar Golchha Corp, told New Business Age, said that Nepali farmers have  had to face the recurring problem of fertilizer shortage every year during the farming season because of the government’s failure to provide chemical fertilizers on time.

He said that the soil fertility has been decreasing due to the high use of chemical fertilizers, so the Golcha Group is planning to open an organic fertilizer factory.

“We have a plan to open a natural fertilizer factory. We are talking to various fertilizer manufacturing companies in India for technical cooperation,'' Golchha told New Business Age.

“Our main objective is to substitute chemical fertilizers.”

The problem of fertilizer shortage is becoming the most problematic to the farmers. He said that the problems of the industrialists cannot be solved without solving the problems of the farmers in the current situation. He, however, did not divulge the details about where the factory will be opened, how much investment will be required and how many people will be employed.

Farmers have been facing the problem of fertilizer shortage every year during the main season of planting. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, about 700,000 metric tons of fertilizers are required in Nepal annually. However, the import of fertilizer is not more than 420,000 metric tons a year.

In this situation, it is expected that the fertilizer factory that is going to be opened by the Golcha Group will be very helpful for the Nepali farmers.

The feasibility study for opening a chemical fertilizer factory in Nepal was first done in 2041 BS. Since then, more than half a dozen such studies have been conducted but not a single plant has been set up.