Kathmandu, July 20 -- Two farmers from Sarlahi district have spent nearly three weeks in an Indian prison after being arrested while returning home with chemical fertiliser bought from a border market. Their arrest is the latest reminder of Nepal's chronic fertiliser shortages, which force many farmers to buy subsidised fertiliser across the border despite the legal risks.

Suresh Prasad Singh, 55, and his elder brother Nagendra Prasad Singh, 60, of ward 5 in Balara Municipality were detained on July 1 by a joint team of India's Agriculture Department and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) near Sonbarsa in Bihar. According to their family members, the brothers had purchased two sacks of urea and six sacks of diammonium phosphate (DAP).

Instea...