Rains damage paddy ready for harvest

By Arjun Kafle,Syangja, Oct. 22: The continuous rains have damaged the paddy which was ready to harvest in different places of Syangja district.

Due to continuous off-season rains, the paddy farmers, who have grown it with hard work throughout the year, are not able to bring the rice into their homes.

Suk Bahadur Nepali of Putalibazar said that farmers were very worried when they could not harvest paddy even after paddy seeds had started to fall in the field.

He complained that he could not sleep because he could not store the harvested crops, saying that the rain throughout the night had soaked the dry paddy completely. The fields of the farmers who have cut paddy have been submerged due to rains, he said.

For the past one week, due to the continuous rain, the paddy of the farmers has rotted in the fields, and even the straw has reached a state of waste.

Rameshwor Lamichhane said that this time, as most of the hybrid varieties of rice were planted, the rice has ripened before Kartik and the farmers were affected by the rains.

Lamichhane said that the paddy has grown well and said that the paddy that was harvested three days ago was all wet and damaged.

Farmers of Putalibazar, Phedikhola, Aandhikhola, Arjunchoupari, and Bhirkot municipalities are unable to harvest paddy due to rains.

Binod Hamal, chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Syangja said that due to sufficient rainfall, paddy has been planted in 99 per cent of the fields in the district this year. In the district, paddy cultivation is done in two seasons in 16,000 hectares.