Bhairawa Customs Office said that around Rs 5 billion worth of rice and wheat, two major cereals, was imported through Bhairahawa in between mid-July 2012 and mid-June.
Imports of rice, in terms of monetary value, surged by 286 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months the current fiscal year, while imports of wheat went up 15-fold in the same period, said Gyanendra Raj Dhakal, an officer at the customs office.
Data compiled by the customs office show that 102,600 tons of rice worth Rs 4.02 billion was imported from India during the 11-month period this year, as against 32,871 tons of rice worth Rs 1.04 billion in the same period last year.
Nepal has been bringing in steamed Jeera rice, Sona Mansuli, Sawa Mansuli, Long Basmati and coarse rice (Mota rice) mainly from Gajupur, Akbarpur, Banaras, Basti and Lucknow of India.
Similarly, India exported 19,246 tons of wheat valued at Rs 458.6 million to Nepal in the 11-month period this fiscal year, as against 1,846 tons of wheat worth Rs 28.5 million in the same period last year. Banaras and Ilahabad are the major exporters of wheat to Nepal.
Nutan Raj Gautam, senior scientist at the National Wheat Research Center in Rupandehi, said haphazard use of fertile land for non-agriculture purpose, including plotting for human settlement, lack of irrigation, exodus of youths to overseas jobs markets, frequent shortage of agricultural inputs, are major factors that are increasing imports of major cereals.
Similarly, imports of maize, fresh vegetables and fruits also surged during the review period.
According to the customs office, Nepal imported around 27,000 quintals of maize amounting over Rs 680 million in the 11-month period, up from 20,000 quintals of maize worth Rs 380 million in the same period last year. The hike in imports of maize was triggered by rising consumption of maize by the poultry industry.
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