Kathmandu, March 4 -- The Finance Ministry has agreed to provide Rs3 billion to the Agriculture Ministry to import extra chemical fertiliser to make up for reduced purchases necessitated by a stronger US dollar and price hike in the global market last year. But the exchequer will only give the money if the subsidy is slashed and a distribution plan is submitted.

Tej Bahadur Subedi, spokesperson for the Agriculture Ministry, said that the Finance Ministry had asked them to reduce the subsidy given to farmers and prepare a procurement and distribution plan amid concerns that the subsidised fertiliser has not benefitted the target group. The government provides a 50-60 percent subsidy on urea.

Subedi said that they had prepared a procureme...