Farmer Bhirikhan Mandal in north Jhitakaiya, Bara, brought diammonium phosphate at Rs70 per kg to apply on his wheat farm. The subsidised rate is Rs45 per kg and is available only through government-designated cooperatives.

“We don’t get fertiliser from the cooperative when we need it the most,” said Mandal. “We are forced to buy smuggled fertiliser openly available in the market paying higher rates.”

He said that applying DAP is a must after sowing the wheat.

Fertiliser shortage for winter crops could spell more trouble for most farmers, who have seen a reduced output of summer crop, mostly paddy, as a result of heavy rainfall in late September.

Jagarnath Mandal, another farmer, also purchased the fertiliser at the same price as Bhirkhan.

He said the fertiliser that the government provides to cooperatives in quotas is being sold in the market openly.

Prithvi Sah, a senior farmer of Kalikamai rural municipality, Parsa, said the Divya Saving and Credit Cooperative received 60 bags of state-subsidised DAP through a quota system. Still, most of the farmers could not get it.

“Unable to access fertiliser, most farmers are unable to sow wheat this winter. We are compelled to go to India to buy DAP,” said Sah.

Saharom Raut, a farmer leader from Jagarnathpur, Parsa, said fertiliser scarcity was caused by the Agriculture Inputs Company and the Salt Trading Corporation, the agencies responsible for importing and distributing vital farm inputs, as they supplied only small quantities to the cooperatives that distribute them.

“Cooperatives have been distributing fertilisers to their near and dear ones. In India, we get DAP bags weighing 45 kg at IRs3,000 whereas the actual weight would be 50 kg per bag,” said Raut.

Asarfi Sah, former Parsa president of the Nepal Farmers Association, said there is a massive scarcity of DAP in the district. “Wheat sowing is being delayed due to fertiliser scarcity. Not all farmers can go across the border to India to buy fertiliser.”

Known as the country’s food basket, farmers in the Tarai/Madhesh who were supposed to finish planting winter crops within mid-December could not do so due to fertiliser scarcity.

Farmers are facing fertiliser scarcity for sowing wheat, pulses, lentils, and mustard, among other winter crops.

Agriculture Inputs Company and Salt Trading Corporation have started distributing fertiliser from ‘buffer stock’ as their DAP stock has already run out.

Purushottam Singh, information chief at the provincial office of Agriculture Inputs Company, Birgunj, said they have started distributing DAP from the buffer stock for a week. “We have already distributed 1,000 tonnes of DAP out of 3,500 tonnes in stock. We’ve heard that it will take 15 more days for the DAP to arrive from Kolkata.”

Aditya Birla Company won the global tender to supply fertiliser in Nepal. The supplier will bring 25,000 tonnes of DAP to Nepal from a third country via the Kolkata dry port, said Singh.

“It will take a week and a half more to arrive in Nepal after packaging in the Kolkata dry port,” said Singh.

Out of the 25,000 tonnes, 26 percent will arrive at the Birgunj office.

Amoj Lamichhane, chief of the Salt Trading Corporation's Birgunj provincial office, said the corporation is preparing to distribute the 320 tonnes of DAP in buffer stock to the cooperatives. “We have DAP in limited stock. Since it’s buffer stock, we are waiting for the agriculture ministry’s consent to distribute it.”

Lamichhane said that 25,000 tonnes of DAP imported by the corporation will take a month to arrive. Aditya Birla is the consignment supplier.

The shortage has hit farmers in western Nepal too.

Shailendra Pandey of Amawa, Marchawar rural municipality-2, has been unable to sow wheat on his 4-bigha field due to the lack of urea and DAP. “I have been asking for fertiliser since harvesting paddy but have been unable to get it. They bring small amounts of subsidised fertiliser, which is taken quickly.”

“I have been waiting for fertiliser to sow wheat on my 12 kattha for weeks. I have been trying to bring them from a nearby Indian market but do not have courage as border police beat farmers,” said Santu Dhawal of Gidhaiya, Gaidhawa rural municipality-5.

Dhawal said that in the Indian market, a bucket of 20 kg fertiliser costs Rs800, and his neighbour has already brought and spread it.

In Kapilvastu, Ram Shankar Tharu has sown wheat on a bigha without DAP fertiliser. “I used to sow wheat on three bighas, but after not getting fertiliser on time, I had to reduce it.”

The recent paddy harvest was also not good. The winter output could drop if fertiliser is still unavailable, Tharu shared his worry.

For wheat only, the Agriculture Inputs Company, Taulihawa, needs 2,000 tonnes of urea and 1,000 tonnes of DAP. The company received 447 tonnes of urea and 373 tonnes of DAP, and the cooperative took its share for distribution. The company’s stock has run out.

“A farmer runs his home by selling agricultural yield, but we need to rely on rainwater, and we do not get seeds and fertiliser on time,” said Janardan Baral, a leading farmer.

Wheat needs fertiliser input three times. While sowing, the DAP is needed. After three weeks and two months of sowing, urea needs to be applied to the crop.

In Nepalgunj, Ramesh Teli went to buy a chemical fertiliser but had to return empty-handed. His nine-member family depends on farming income. “I would have already sown wheat if fertiliser was available,” he said, who grows mustard and wheat on 12 katthas.

The Agriculture Inputs Company, Nepalgunj, has a small stock of DAP. It is unable to provide the quantity sought by farmers.

Agriculture Inputs Company, Nepalgunj, demanded 6,000 tonnes of urea, 2,500 tonnes of DAP, and 300 tonnes of potash but received only 4,020 tonnes of urea, 685 tonnes of DAP, and 75 tonnes of potash, said Puspharaj Shrestha, the company's branch manager.

According to the provincial office of Agriculture Inputs Company, Bhairahawa, it has 11,644 tonnes of urea, 2,557 tonnes of DAP, and 55 tonnes of potash. The company supplies fertiliser to Lumbini, Karnali, Sudurpaschim, and two districts of Gandaki.

In Sudurpashim Province, though there is no fertiliser shortage, the cooperatives have not been able to meet the demand.

Kanchanpur received 4,000 tonnes of DAP and 5,500 tonnes of urea, which did not fulfil the district's demand. Wheat farming is done on 35,000 hectares in Sudurpashim.

(With inputs from Shankar Acharya in Parsa, Sanju Paudel in Lumbini, Manoj Paudel in Kapilvastu, Rupa Gahatraj in Nepalgunj and Bhawani Bhatta in Kanchanpur)