Kanchanpur. Farmers are facing problem as the government has not been providing chemical fertilizers at subsidized rates through cooperatives.

The farmers have been facing problems as the cooperatives, which have been entrusted with the responsibility of distributing subsidized fertilizers, have not procured chemical fertilizers from the Agriculture Inputs Company. Hemraj Joshi, chief of Agriculture Inputs Company Kanchanpur, said that the cooperatives have not come to collect fertilizers even though it is time for farmers to plant winter crops.

According to him, the cooperatives registered at the Agriculture Inputs Centre for the distribution of chemical fertilizers have to be renewed within 10 days by mid-October and the cooperatives have not yet come to renew their quota.

“A total of 154 cooperatives have been registered for the distribution of fertiliser in the district, out of which only 20 have renewed the fertilizer till mid-October,” said Joshi. ’

Stating that there was no shortage of chemical fertilizers in Kanchanpur, he said farmers were facing problem as the cooperatives did not supply chemical fertilizers on time. “We cannot sell fertilizer directly to the farmers, we should distribute it through cooperatives as per the quota,” he said, adding, “We have written to the local governments after the cooperatives did not come to collect the fertilizer.” ’

Currently, fertiliser is being distributed to cooperatives in nine local levels of Kanchanpur district. “The supply of chemical fertilizers is continuing, we have already distributed one phase of fertilizer,” said Joshi. ’

According to him, 500 metric tons of DAP has been distributed so far. It has 1,100 metric tonnes of DAP in stock. Similarly, 500 metric tonnes of urea has been distributed and 300 metric tonnes of urea is in stock. According to the Agriculture Inputs Center, there is no shortage of chemical fertilizers as chemical fertilizers are still being imported.

Farmers here have complained that they are facing problems in planting winter crops due to lack of chemical fertilizers on time. “The Agricultural Inputs Company does not provide fertilizer directly to the farmers, it will be provided through cooperatives,” said Seth Singh Rana, a farmer of Bedkot Municipality-6. ’

Farmers are of the view that although it is the responsibility of the local level to regulate the cooperatives, they are not responsible due to the lack of effective regulation of cooperatives. “The government distributes fertiliser through cooperatives, but many cooperatives are defunct. ’

Bir Singh Thapa, a farmer of Bhimdatta Municipality-8, said, “We are in trouble as the cooperatives have not regulated the local level when they go to the agriculture inputs company to say that there is enough fertilizer. ’