KATHMANDU- The paddy plantation for this year has almost reached completion, with planting done on 96% of the total paddy fields as of Sunday. This marks a significant milestone for Nepal’s agriculture sector.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy has been planted on approximately 1.35 million hectares of land out of the total 1.4 million hectares available for paddy cultivation.
Dr. Hari Bahadur K.C., Joint Secretary and spokesperson at the Ministry, stated that 96.3% of the cultivable land in the country has been planted with paddy, which is a 15% increase compared to the previous year.
He noted that paddy plantation is nearly complete across the country, though the area of cultivation might still increase by 1-2% as planting activities continue in the Madhes, Koshi, and Gandaki provinces.
Provincial Breakdown of Paddy Plantation
- Sudurpashchim Province: Paddy plantation is fully completed, with 174,501 hectares of land cultivated.
- Karnali Province: 99.2% of paddy planting is done, covering 41,578 hectares out of the total 41,904 hectares.
- Lumbini Province: 96.7% of the paddy fields have been planted, with 301,498 hectares cultivated out of 311,643 hectares.
- Gandaki Province: 96.1% plantation completion has been achieved, with 92,270 hectares planted out of 96,053 hectares.
- Koshi Province: Paddy planting has reached 95% completion, with 262,604 hectares cultivated out of 276,386 hectares.
- Madhes Province: 95.4% of the plantation has been completed, covering 368,383 hectares out of the total 386,150 hectares.
- Bagmati Province: Paddy has been planted on 94.9% of the land, with 108,772 hectares cultivated out of 114,561 hectares.
Dr. K.C. emphasized that the regular monsoon and the easy availability of chemical fertilizers have significantly contributed to this year’s successful paddy plantation compared to the same period last year.
“Looking at the timely plantation across all provinces, the production and productivity of paddy is expected to increase this year. However, rice production and productivity heavily depend on rainfall due to the lack of irrigation facilities on most farms. Unusual rainfall patterns can lead to fluctuations in productivity,” he told The Rising Nepal.
Past Paddy Production Figures
According to the ministry, Nepal achieved its highest paddy yield last year, with production reaching 5.724 million tonnes. This marks an increase from the 5.486 million tonnes produced in the fiscal year 2022/23. In the fiscal year 2020/21, the country produced 5.621 million tonnes, although the yield had fallen to 5.13 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2021/22. Additionally, approximately 5.55 million tonnes of paddy were produced in the fiscal year 2019/20.
Currently, the per hectare productivity of paddy stands at 3.9 tonnes, with expectations of further improvement due to the favorable planting conditions observed this year.