Scant rainfall delays paddy plantation in Jhapa

Baniyani, July 5: Paddy plantation has been adversely affected due to inadequate rainfall in Jhapa district.     

It is already the third week of Asar month, the time paddy plantation used to go in full swing, but farmers have been worried over the scant rainfall.     

A farmer, Ratan Kumar Bhulel from Haldibari-6, said, "We used to be done with paddy plantation this time. Last year, I had completed it by this time."     

For lack of irrigation, Bhulel, like others, has to depend on monsoon rains for rice plantation. Tilling 1.5 bighas of land, he shared the plight that there was no alternative for irrigation either. The rice seedling is drying up in scorching heat.     

The district has recorded only 14 per cent paddy plantation so far, while it would have completed some 25 per cent in normal time with sufficient rainfall.     

However, an officer at the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Chetraj Bhandari, informed that farmers were using electric motors to pump underground water for irrigation, so the cultivation would increase now onwards.     

Meanwhile, the district has been facing the recurring problem- the shortage of chemical fertiliser this year too. Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Sagar Bista, admitted that farmers were complaining of the unavailability of fertiliser, though it was essential at present.     

Bista informed that Jhapa needs 12,000 metric tons of DPA and 14,000 tons of urea fertiliser, which is in short supply. Only 10 per cent of chemical fertilisers is available.     

He suggested increasing the use of compost to reduce dependency on chemical fertilisers by 40 per cent. It has also been reported that the production of spring paddy (chaite dhan) is reducing gradually. (RSS)