BIRATNAGAR, July 31: Indian customs office at Jogbani that barred the entry of 30,500 sacks (1,525 tons) of diammonium phosphate (DAP) to Nepal has finally allowed the consignment to enter the country on Tuesday after Indian Potash Limited (IPL) furnished necessary documents.
The Indian customs had held up 1,525 tons out of total 2,500 tons that the IPL supplied for distribution in the eastern region after it found the export document of lacking the official seal of the supplier.
This had left a large chunk of consignment stranded in the Indian side of the border since Friday.
“The carelessness by the supplier had resulted in the inconvenience. But we received the held up consignment on Tuesday after it corrected its mistake,” said Dinesh Kumar Shrestha, regional chief of Agricultural Input Company (AIC) in Biratnagar.
Under the contract signed with the Ministry of Agriculture Development to supply 30,000 tons of DAP, IPL had dispatched 50,000 sacks to Biratnagar regional office of AIC via Jogbani, 100,000 sacks to Birgunj via Raxaul and another 50,000 sacks of DAP to Bhairahawa via Sunauli in order to facilitate its prompt distribution in those areas.
Those consignments had reached respective Indian customs on Thursday. AIC Bhairahawa office had received the stranded DAP on Monday, while AIC Biratnagar office received the remaining consignment only after a representative of the IPL arrived in Jogbani correct the mistake.
The problem that AIC faced at the Indian customs did not create any trouble as the farmers are placing less demand for DAP these days due to fast approaching closure of paddy plantation season.
“Farmers have almost completed the plantation in the eastern region. So the demand has dipped sharply,” said Shrestha.
However, he stated that the demand for DAP was still high in paddy production pockets like Janakpur, Rajbiraj and Lahan. “We are promptly dispatching the supply in order to ensure the farmers get as much fertilizer as they are demanding,” he stated.
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