KATHMANDU: Nepal is set to witness a 5.2 percent rise in paddy production in the current fiscal year, pushing the output figure to a new high thanks to favorable weather and attractive prices that encouraged farmers to expand the crop areas. [break]
Outputs of maize and millet are also estimated to grow by 2.8 percent and a nominal 0.5 percent respectively, says a report put out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC).
The report states that paddy production in the country will total 4.5 million tons this year, up from 4.3 million tons last year, with productivity per hectare increasing from 2.7 tons to 2.9 tons.
Paddy was planted in 1.55 million hectares this year, which is an increment in plantation area by 0.4 percent compared to the last fiscal year.
On the basis of the average farm-gate price, which stands at Rs 1,400 per quintal at present, paddy production for the year is said to be worth Rs 70 billion in total this year. This is close to 11 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Despite floods and inundation in the major paddy producing districts and drought and insufficient precitipation in some others, the production growth has been satisfactory,” Dr. Hari Dahal, spokesperson at MoAC told myrepublica.com.
“Attractive prices in the market, increase in irrigated land, greater use of fertilizer and easy availability of improved seeds have also contributed to the production rise,” Dahal added.
He claimed that productivity of rice could be driven up to 3.5 tons per hectare if sufficient chemical fertilizer is made available across the country.
The MoAC report says paddy plantation has increased in most districts, but not in Sunsari, Kavre, Mahottari, Salyan, Jajarkot and Kanchanpur. Production in these districts suffered due to floods.
Production of paddy, which makes up more than 50 percent of the total food weight, is of crucial importance in the food supply of a country dependant on India for more than 50 percent of its rice.
Production of maize, the second major crop, is estimated to rise marginally to 1.93 million tons this year from 1.87 million tons. The yield of this crop also went up by 2 percent to 2.2 tons per hectare. The maize plantation area inched up 0.6 percent to 875,000 hectares, notes the report.
“The maize production declined in districts like Gorkha, Tanahun, Salyan, Dang, Surkhet, Banke, Bardia, Doti, Mugu and Kailali, but it went up in other hill and alpine districts, which remained unaffected by inundation, and the crop areas also rose there,” added Dahal.
Millet production is likewise estimated to inch up by 0.5 percent to 293,000 tons this year from 291,000 tons recorded last year. The crop area edged up by 0.15 percent and productivity rose by 0.4 percent to 1.1 ton per hectare.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com