Agriculture Ministry claims 76% fiscal progress

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has claimed of achieving 76% fiscal progress by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22. The Ministry's claim aside, the farmers are however unhappy as they are not getting chemical fertilisers at the time of paddy plantation. The farmers need nearly 300,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertilisers in the month of Asadh alone. However, the government has said that 218,000 metric tonnes of subsidised fertiliser have been sold during this period. In Nepal, farmers need 1.2 million metric tonnes of fertiliser annually. It has been reported that 60% of rice plantation had been carried out across the country till July 12 in the fiscal year 2021/22 which shows that it decreased by 8% compared to the same period in the fiscal year 2020/21. "The government procures 500,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser and the private sector 700,000 metric tonnes," according to Govinda Prasad Sharma, the Agricultural Development Secretary at the Ministry. The Department of Agriculture has acknowledged that the paddy cultivation has not been encouraging as the farmers have not got sufficient fertiliser by the end of Asadh. The monsoon paddy cultivation in Nepal is done until mid-August. Rice plantation was 97% by mid-August last fiscal year. Ministry Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Prakash Kumar Sanjel said the Ministry has successfully carried out 13 major works by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22. These include policy and legal arrangements, determination of prices of various crops and agricultural produces, provision of relief to the farmers affected by the unseasonal rains and coordination, import and sale of chemical fertilisers, quality control, implementation of the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project, technical extension works, genetic improvement, vaccine production and management, livestock services, fishery and crop insurance, livestock products and livestock products export, agriculture infrastructure development and farmer listing. Likewise, the bill to amend the Seeds Act, 2045 and the Plant Protection Act, 2064 has been authenticated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Similarly, the Bird Flu Control Regulations, 2078 and the National Animal Health Policy, 2078, the National Animal Breeding Policy, 2078 have been endorsed. The draft of the National Fisheries Policy has been tabled at the Council of Ministers for its passage and the Food Hygiene and Quality Bill, 2079 in the National Assembly after its deliberation in the legislation committee. The drafts of the bills including Animal Welfare, Infectious Animal Disease Control and Agribusiness Promotion have proceeded after their deliberation in the Nepal Law Commission. For the current fiscal year 2022/23, the government has fixed the minimum support price of thick-sized paddy at Rs 2,752 per quintal and the minimum support price of medium-sized paddy at Rs 2,902 per quintal. In order to ensure the purchase of paddy from farmers, the government has directed the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project to register farmers and cooperatives. In the previous fiscal year 2021/22, the government purchased 8,092 metric tonnes of paddy from farmers through cooperatives at the support price. The minimum price of sugarcane has been fixed at Rs 590 per quintal, 8.04% increment as compared to the previous fiscal year 2021/22. In the FY, 2020/21, over Rs 775 million has been released as incentives to the sugarcane farmers of eight districts.   READ ALSO:

• 60% of paddy plantation completed across country
• Nepal records Rs 904.18bn remittance inflows in 11 months of current FY
• Rice worth Rs 50bn imported in 11 months of current FY
• Nepal imports paddy worth over Rs 12bn in first seven months of current FY 
• Nepal’s paddy output drops by 8.74%; five-year low