According to a Supplies Ministry official, the high-level Nepali delegation would request the southern neighbor to supply food grains, including rice and wheat, up to around 450,000 tons, which the country is estimate to lose on the back of winter crop failure and loss in maize and paddy production due to long spell of drought.
Under normal circumstances also India used to fulfill around 50 percent of the total food demand in the country. However, India´s decision to ban the export of non-basmati rice and wheat for the last two years to deal with its food shortage has been affecting food availability in Nepal.
“We will request India to make arrangement for the export of deficit quantity of food grains to Nepal, mainly as the country is likely to face acute food shortage in the coming season,” said the source.
The government estimates that about three dozen districts will suffer food shortage due to shortfall in production. Most of the food deficit districts belong to the mid-western and far-western regions.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, production of wheat this year has dropped by 14.5 percent to 1.34 million tons due to long spell of drought and meager snowfall in hill and mountain districts. Similarly, barley production has also dipped by 17 percent. Production of maize is also estimated to go down by 10-15 percent this year.
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