Farmers Must Receive Payment Within 25 Days on Credit Transactions or Pay Interest

April 6, Kathmandu — The government has decided to enforce a regulation requiring payments for agricultural products purchased on credit to be completed within a maximum of 25 days. This measure has been included in the government’s recently released 100-point agenda. The decision aims to ensure fair pricing for farmers’ agricultural produce. In cases where payments are not made within this timeframe, instructions mandating payment along with interest will be issued shortly.

To strengthen market access for agricultural products, a National Agricultural Market Information System will be established, providing farmers with daily price updates through SMS and digital platforms. Additionally, local governments will be facilitated to operate weekly agricultural markets in each municipality. The agenda also includes launching a ‘One Municipality, One Cold Storage Center’ program to improve the storage and marketing of agricultural produce.

The agenda stipulates that under the public-private partnership initiative, a feasibility study for establishing cold storage centers in each district will be conducted within ten days. To address farmers’ losses caused by uncontrolled market fluctuations due to the lack of minimum price protection for key agricultural products, the government has resolved to initiate the process of setting minimum support prices for major grains within 30 days. Furthermore, arrangements have been made to issue a ‘Soil Health Card’ to farmers operating commercial agricultural farms within three months.