Kathmandu, July 9: Paddy plantation is going on in full swing across the country, thanks to the regular rainfall.

According to the statistics of the Department of Agriculture, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy plantation in around 39 per cent of the total paddy fields has been completed by Sunday (July 7, 2024). 

The paddy has been planted in 539,766 hectares of the total paddy fields of 1.4 million hectares across the country. Deputy Director General and Spokesperson of the Department of Agriculture Dr. Arun Kafle said that paddy plantation activities had been going on in full swing across the country, except some parts of Tarai.

“The continuous rains that occurred since last Friday has slightly affected paddy plantation in some places, including Tarai. The floods caused by heavy rains have made it difficult to plant paddy in Tarai,” he told The Rising Nepal.

He, however, said that paddy plantation was expected to gain momentum shortly even in the Tarai with the reduction of rains and floods in the river.

However, paddy plantation has slightly decreased – by 4 per cent – this year compared with the same period last year.

Dr. Kafle said that it had been seen that paddy plantation had diminished slightly during the review period as the Karnali and Sudurpashchim Provinces have not updated area of the plantation for the last one week.

The highest paddy plantation has been completed in Sudurpashchim Province while the Gandaki and Karnali Provinces stand second and third in paddy plantation, respectively.

According to the Department, paddy has been planted in ​​54.2 per cent (94,699 hectares) of the total paddy field in Sudurpashchim Province by June 30. Paddy is grown in around 174,576 hectares in the Sudurpaschim Province.

The lowest paddy plantation has been done in Madhes Province. The paddy plantation has been completed in 25.5 per cent (97,851 hectares) of the total paddy cultivation land of 383,150 hectares of land by Friday.

Similarly, paddy has been planted in 49.7 per cent (47,733 hectares) in Gandaki Province, 47.5 per cent (19,904 hectares) in Karnali Province, 44.4 per cent (138,364 hectares) in Lumbini Province.

Likewise, 40.2 per cent (46,044 hectares) paddy plantation has been completed in Bagmati Province while 34.4 per cent (95,170 hectares) in Koshi Province so far.

The paddy is cultivated in 96,053 hectares in Gandaki Province, 41,904 hectares in Karnali, 311643 hectares in Lumbini, 114,561 hectares in Bagmati and 276,386 hectares in Koshi Province. 

According to Dr. Kafle, paddy plantation is expected to be done in the entire paddy field of 1.4 million hectares this year if the monsoon remains fevourable. 

However, paddy plantation and production in the country is fully dependent on the rainfall due to lack of proper irrigation infrastructure. The area of paddy cultivation this year is estimated to decline by 100,000 hectares as compared to last year. 

It was projected that 1.5 million hectares of land would be cultivated last year. Last year, only about 92 per cent of the estimated 1.5 million hectares of rice cultivation area was cultivated.