Paddy plantation nears completion, 96% plantation completed nationwide

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 7: Paddy plantation of this year has almost completed, as plantation has been done in 96 per cent of the total paddy field as of Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy plantation has completed in around 1.35 million hectares of land out of the total 1.4 million hectares of paddy field.

Joint Secretary and spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr. Hari Bahadur K.C. said that paddy has been planted in 96.3 per cent cultivable land of the country, and it is higher by 15 per cent than the previous year.

He said that paddy plantation has almost reached in completion stages across the country. 

However, the area of paddy plantation might be increased by around 1-2 per cent as the plantation activities is still happening in Madhes, Koshi and Gandaki provinces.

Paddy plantation has completed in the Sudurpashchim Province. The plantation has been done in entire paddy field of 174,501 hectares of land in the province.

Paddy plantation has completed 99.2 per cent (41,578 hectares) in Karnali, 96.7 per cent (301,498 hectares) in Lumbini and 96.1 per cent (92,270 hectares) in Gandaki Province till date.

Paddy is grown in around 41,904 hectares in Karnali Province, 31,643 hectares in Lumbini and 96,053 hectares in the Gandaki Province.

Paddy plantation has completed 95 per cent (262,604 hectares) in Koshi, 95.4 per cent (368,383 hectares) in Madhes and 94.9 per cent (108,772 hectares) in Bagmati Province.

Paddy is grown in around 276,386 hectares in the Koshi, 386,150 hectares in Madhes and 114,561 hectares in the Bagmati Province.

According to Dr. K.C., with regular monsoon, easy availability of chemical fertilisers across the country has contributed to make significant achievement in paddy plantation this year as compared to same period last year. 

“Looking at the timely plantation in paddy entire provinces, the production and productivity of paddy is expected to increase this year. However, rice production and productivity heavily depend on rainfall due to the lack of irrigation facilities on most of the farms. Unusual rainfall patterns can lead to fluctuations in productivity.” he told The Rising Nepal.

According to the ministry, paddy production has increased to 5.724 million tonnes, the highest yield in Nepal, last year. 

About 5.486 million tonnes of paddy was produced in fiscal year 2022/23. Similarly, Nepal had grown 5.621 million tonnes of rice in the fiscal year 2020/21.  However, the yield had fallen to 5.13 million tonnes in the last fiscal year 2021/22. 

Similarly, about 5.55 million tonnes of paddy was produced in the fiscal year 2019/20. Currently, the per hectare productivity of paddy stands at 3.9 tonnes.