More farmers cultivating chaite paddy in Bara

By Shiva Shankar Mishra,Bara, May 6: After the production of chaite paddy started increasing compared to other rice, farmers of the district have widened the areas for the cultivation of chaite paddy.

The area of chaite paddy cultivation has increased by 2,000 hectares of land this year and planted in around 18,000 hectares of land in Bara district this year, said Rajnarayan Prasad Sah, chief of the Agricultural Knowledge Centre, Kalaiya

Last year, chaite paddy was planted in around 16,000 hectares of land in the district

He said that farmers in the southern and eastern parts of the district are still busy planting chaite paddy.

Farmers in Bara are more attracted to chaite paddy cultivation as the production of chaite paddy is higher than bhadaiya and aghani paddy.

Information officer and economist of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre Ganesh Mahara said that the area of chaite paddy plantation is increasing every year in the district.

Even when there is no rain, farmers are cultivating chaite paddy using underground irrigation water, he said. 

Local municipalities and Agriculture Knowledge Centers have been providing various subsidies annually and have also been providing irrigation equipment.

Similarly, Mahara said that the area for the cultivation of chaite paddy has increased after the local levels and the Nepal Electricity Authority expand electricity services to the fields for irrigation. 

He said that a total of 80,000 tonnes of chaite paddy was produced from around 16,000 hectares last year.

Per hectare productivity of chaite paddy was 5 tonnes last year.

Paddy worth Rs. 10.85 billion produced in Bara

In the current fiscal year 2024/25, around 271,000 tonnes of paddy worth about Rs. 10.85 billion has been produced in Bara district.

Paddy --- chaite, bhadaiya and aghani --- were cultivated in an area of 62,020 hectares in different parts of the district this year. 

This year, the meeting of the District Coordination Committee fixed the price of paddy at Rs. 40 per kilogram, and according to that price, paddy worth Rs. 10.84 billion has been produced in Bara, according to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre.

In various parts of the district, 139,892 tonnes of aghani paddy has been produced when it was cultivated in an area of 34,120 hectares of land.

Similarly, 51,170 tonnes of bhadaiya paddy has been produced from the cultivation of 11,900 hectares and 80,000 tonnes of chaite paddy has been produced from the cultivation of 16,000 hectares, said Mahara.