Officials, however, said plantation could not become possible in five percent of total paddy field or 75,000 hectares in this plantation season. “Paddy plantation area has increased to 1,000,373 hectares till the first week of September up from 571,642 hectares recorded a month earlier, pushing the total plantation area to over 91 percent of arable land in Tarai,” said Dr Hari Dahal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Total plantation across the country has increased to 1,430,594 hectares or 92 percent till the first week of September up from 922,980 hectares of 60 percent of total paddy fields recorded a month earlier.
Plantation has become possible in cent percent of total paddy fields in the far-western region, while plantation in the eastern region, major paddy producing area, has recorded plantation in only 84 percent of total paddy fields. Similarly, central, western and mid-western regions have recorded plantation in 94 percent, 96 percent and 97 percent of total paddy fields.
Dahal said the Rs 1.62 billion relief package proposed by the MoAC on the first week of August would be revised taking the increment in paddy plantation into consideration. The government had announced the package to minimize impacts of long spell of drought on overall food supplies. “We will revise the package as paddy plantation has been recorded in 95 percent of total paddy fields as compared to 60 percent estimated when the package was proposed last month,” Dahal added. “Food deficit figure, estimated earlier, will also go down remarkably.”
More than 70 percent of 1,549,262 hectares total paddy fields across the country lie in the Tarai region. The ministry had warned, in August, that Nepal might face a food deficit of up to 400,000 tons during the current fiscal year due to long stretch of drought. Nepal had witnessed a food surplus of 22,367 tons in the last fiscal year.
The package program proposed by the government had estimated to bring down the food deficit to 225,000 tons. Under the package program, the MoAC had formulated various strategies, including launching special programs for winter season and other alternative programs.
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