Siraha farmers facing fertilizer crunch

Lahan, Farmers in Siraha are a worried lot these days due to the shortage of fertilizers at the time of what cultivation. 
Farmers from rural areas coming to the fertilizer depot at Lahan in Siraha have to return empty-handed. There is shortage of DAP and urea fertilizer in the district. 
Mohammad Mastikim, who came to Lahan from Govindapur of the district to buy DAP fertilizer, said that he did not get the fertilizer and had to return empty-handed. He complained that his field will remain fallow this season as he was not getting the fertilizer during the wheat cultivation time. 
Farmers have complained that the local dealers buy the little DAP and Urea fertilizer that the Agriculture Inputs Company, Lahan provides them and sell it at exorbitant price. Many farmers even get to buy the fertilizer even at that price. 
However, the cooperatives in the district have been getting the fertilizer in inadequate quantity through the Company that also after visiting the company depot for three or four days. The cooperatives say that they are compelled to sell it at higher price to farmers as the transportation cost is higher. 
Company's Lahan branch manager Chandra Prasad Chaulagain said there is shortage of chemical fertilizer in the district due to short supply. 
According to him, the branch has only 458 DAP sacks in stock at its warehouse and there is not a single bag of urea fertilizer. The Company stated that it supplied 7,500 sacks of urea fertilizer and 12 thousand 217 bags of DAP to the Lahan depot till now since October 18. 
The company sells urea fertilizer at the rate of Rs 738 per sack and the SAP fertilizer at Rs 2,188 per bag to the cooperatives. But the cooperatives are charged of selling that to the farmers at higher price taking undue advantage of the shortage. 
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