According to a recent report, crop production came down by two percent and the size of farmlands shrunk by 2.61 percent in Kaski, Tanahu, Lamjung, Gorkha, Syangja and Baglung districts this year. According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the six districts have 281,167 hectares of agricultural land, of which only 47,365 hectares have irrigation facility.
The report says agricultural land where sugarcane is cultivated shrunk by 23 percent while the land where wheat and corn are produced decreased by 15 percent and four percent, respectively. Due to reduction in the farm size, production of crops like paddy, corn, wheat, finger millet, bouquet and potato fell by a cumulative three percent.
One of the reasons behind fall in production of crops is drought. Although the six districts had ample showers during summer, the dry spell which began after mid-September negatively affected agricultural production in those places.
Another reason behind decline in production is lowered investment in agricultural sector. According to Keshav Thapa, manager of NRB, loans in agricultural sector fell by 77 percent this fiscal year, largely because of the financial institutions´ increased focus on infrastructure development and trade. Currently, only a handful of microfinance companies are investing in agriculture sector.
Despite fall in production of cereal and cash crops, production of vegetables and fruits went up by four percent and two percent, respectively, in the six districts. The NRB report says, among fruits, production of bananas surged by 62 percent while production of oranges went up by 12 percent.
Production of vegetables and fruits went up due to surge in size of farmlands where vegetables and fruits are cultivated. Land size where vegetables and fruits are grown increased by four percent and eight percent, respectively.
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