Jul 13, Kathamandu: According to the GTG (Government to Government) agreement between Nepal and India, paddy will not be planted for years. Despite the agreement, it is not certain whether the manure will arrive from India within the stipulated time.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister Mahindra Rai Yadav had gone to India and met the concerned minister there and ensured that the manure would be brought to Nepal. Minister Yadav had said that the manure would reach Nepal by the second week of July.
But it is not certain that the manure will come even after the end of June. After the return of the then Agriculture Minister Yadav from India, another team led by Rajendra Bahadur Karki, the head of the Agricultural Ingredients Company Limited, returned to India to reach an agreement on prices and other issues.
Chief Karki said that talks were underway with India on the issue of importing manure, adding that documents on price and other issues had been exchanged and an agreement was yet to be signed. He said, "Fertilizer comes but it is not used for planting paddy every year." He said that even though manure has started coming from India, it will not be used for paddy cultivation now. He said that the manure will be used for other crops.
Stating that discussions are underway to supply manure to Nepal at the same price as purchased by India and to bring manure to Nepal's warehouses, he said that 170,000 metric tonnes of manure would arrive if the manure started arriving from July.
He said that an agreement was reached to provide 150,000 metric tons of manure in the first fiscal year but due to the non-arrival of manure in that period, 170,000 metric tons of manure will be provided in the next fiscal year. The GTG agreement was signed between Nepal and India on February 28, 2022 AD.
The government of India has agreed to purchase urea and DAP fertilizer for five years. The ministry will purchase nine lakh 35 thousand fertilizers in five years. Of which 565,000 metric tons of urea and 100,000 metric tons of urea and 50,000 metric tons of urea will be procured in the first year.
110,000 metric tons of urea in the second year, 60,000 metric tons of DAP, and 115,000 metric tons of urea in the third year. According to the ministry, 240,000 urea fertilizers will be procured in the fourth and fifth years. One lakh 50 thousand metric tons of manure has not arrived in the first year. The agreement was reached at the end of five years, said Chief Karki.