The European Union Food Facility Project on Sunday endorsed the relief package proposed by FAO as relief to farmers in Baitadi, Doti and Darchula districts.[break]
The steering committee of the project took the decision. The committee is led by secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) and has officials from MoAC, Department of Agriculture, Crops Development Directorate, the European Union, the FAO, the World Food Program (WFP) and Department of Livestock Service as its members.
FAO had distributed Radha-4 and Sabitri varieties of paddy seeds to farmers in the three districts. But the paddy crop planted in 1,159 hectares in Baitadi, 221 hectares in Doti and 173 hectares in Darchula failed to yield, inflicting loss of about Rs 56.4 millions to the farmers. Similar problem was also seen in Udaypur, Bardia and Sindhuli districts as well.
“The committee has endorsed the FAO´s relief package of providing seeds of paddy, wheat, maize and vegetables along with the required quantity of chemical fertilizers free of cost for a year to the affected farmers,” Dr Suraj Pokhrel, director of Crops Development Directorate (CDD), told Republica on Sunday.
A total 5,848 households in Baitadi, 1,100 in Doti and 865 in Darchula districts saw their paddy crop yield nothing due to use of faulty seeds. FAO had distributed 35 tons of paddy seeds in Darchula, 69 in Baitadi, 89 in Doti and 40 in Bajhang. Farmers in Bajhang, however, reported satisfactory yields.
Pokhrel said the committee also decided to test seeds at CDD before distributing them to the farmers.
The CDD has recommended FAO to provide free seeds and chemical fertilizer along with food grains to farmers, who are also facing shortage of food grains, due to no yields last season. “We have recommended FAO to distribute seeds and fertilizers worth Rs 60 million each and food grains worth another Rs 60 million as relief to the farmers,” Pokhrel added.
FAO has allocated about Rs 100 million for its regular program and compensation for the farmers.
Following complaints about the quality of seeds distributed in Baitadi, Doti and Darchula districts, the government had sent a fact-finding team there to assess the situation. The team had found that paddy seeds were distributed well after the completion of the plantation season. It had found that the seeds were distributed for plots not fit for plantation of Radha-4 and Sabitri varieties.
A team from FAO headquarters had also visited the districts and complained about non-cooperation from the officials of agriculture development offices of the concerned districts.
Pokhrel also informed that the MoAC was soon dispatching an independent team soon to the districts to assess the loss incurred by the farmers. “We will fix compensation for the farmers once we receive report from the team on Jan 15,” he added.
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