Bumper Paddy Harvest

Paddy is a staple food crop in Nepal, providing nearly 70 per cent of the total dietary energy and a significant amount of nutrition to its people. A crucial part of the country's economy, it is a major source of income for farmers and one of the key determinants of food security. Besides, it is the country's biggest agricultural commodity, contributing nearly 20 per cent to the Agricultural GDP. Tens of thousands of farmers rely on paddy production for their income, and it is a major source of employment in the agricultural sector. 

Although global food production, including paddy, grew by leaps and bounds over the last few decades, there are projections that climate change will significantly reduce global food supply. The impact of growing heatwaves and droughts in length and frequency owing to climate change has already taken a devastating toll on agricultural yields, sending prices of food soaring. India, one of the world's biggest food producer and exporter, in 2022 and 2023, had to resort to banning the export of some varieties of rice and other produce owing to dwindling supplies tied to extreme climatic events. Its impact on Nepal and many other rice importing countries was immediate and detrimental.      

Amid these worries, Nepal, however, has recorded a bumper paddy production this past year, producing paddy worth over Rs. 200 billion. The country produced over 5.95 million tonnes of paddy this year, the highest amount ever produced and 4 per cent higher than 5.724 million produced last year. And the boost is mainly attributed to timely and abundant monsoon rainfall across the country during the plantation season and smooth supply of chemical fertilizers. This bountiful harvest of paddy goes a long way in improving the economic stability of rural households and enhancing our agricultural exports. When rice production goes up, so do the GDP and economic growth rate. Paddy alone contributes about 15 per cent to the overall GDP. 

The measures taken by the government must have played a key role in the growth in paddy production. Increasingly accurate weather forecasting have helped farmers to plant the crops     when they should, saving them a great deal of time, effort and agricultural inputs. But in some cases it is also true that raging monsoon rains washed away standing crops alongside the fertile soil, leaving farmers in distress. They should be compensated. Good supply of fertilizers also played a crucial role in upping the production. 

As such, the lesson that can be learned from this growth story is that when farmers get the right, timely and accurate information about the weather events that positively or adversely affects their crops alongside the necessary inputs, they will do the needful to shield their crops from harm or to give the crops the best exposure to thrive depending on the need of the hour.  

With abundant arable land and many other natural resources, Nepal is a blessed country. But the sad reality is that despite the potential to achieve self-sufficiency in paddy production, the country's import of paddy and other agricultural produce from the southern neighbour has been on the rise. As shown by this past year's bumper paddy harvest, things can be improved markedly when the government takes the proactive approach.