Mangel på kunstgødning truer med at forværre fødevarekrisen i Nepal, skriver IRIN News tirsdag. Nepalesiske bønder er stærkt afhængige af tilførslen af gødning til deres marker. Kunstgødningen køber de af den nepalesiske regering til meget favorable, subsidierede priser. Men nu har regeringen skåret ned for støtten.
“There is definitely a shortage of [chemical] fertilizers. This will have a direct impact on the food security situation,” Hari Dahal, a senior government official with Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates 3.6 million people are food insecure in Nepal.
Two thirds of paddy farmers in Nepal use fertilizers, and about half of wheat farmers, according to The Food Security Atlas of Nepal released in July by the government, WFP and the Nepal Development Research Institute. But on average Nepalese famers use 400 grams per hectare compared to 40 kg in Japan, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
While usage of chemical fertilizers is growing, budget cuts have limited Nepalese farmers to only a fraction of what their regional counterparts depend on.
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