Farmers producing milk and sugarcane in Nepal are still awaiting payments totaling more than Rs 2.57 billion from the government for their sold products. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), over Rs 1.27 billion is owed to milk producers, while sugarcane farmers are due Rs 1.30 billion in subsidies.
In a press conference held on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Ram Nath Adhikari acknowledged the government’s partial payment of Rs 335.70 million to milk producers. He assured that the remaining dues for both milk and sugarcane farmers would be cleared before the Dashain festival.
Minister Adhikari also revealed that the MoALD plans to disclose the names of individuals who have been misusing agricultural grants provided by the government. The ministry has received numerous complaints about the misuse of funds, which were intended to enhance agricultural production across different sectors.
The government is also working on a plan to categorize farmers to better allocate state-provided facilities. However, the distribution of farmer identity cards, which is a part of this categorization, has not yet been implemented. Since the launch of the MoALD’s Farmers Enlisting Program in 2020, over 1.8 million farmers have been registered, with the goal of enlisting at least 1.2 million more in the current fiscal year. The ministry aims to link agricultural grant facilities to these registered farmers to boost productivity.
In the meantime, the government is projecting a significant increase in food grain yields, including paddy, corn, and wheat, for the current fiscal year. Data from the MoALD indicates that Nepal produced over 10.96 million tons of cereals in 2023/24, with expectations to surpass 11.04 million tons this fiscal year. Paddy production is projected to rise to 5.735 million tons from 5.724 million tons, corn to 3.095 million tons from 3.089 million tons, and wheat to 2.215 million tons from 2.155 million tons.
