KOSHI, Aug 7: In the last Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/2025, Koshi Province produced a total of 1,182,221 metric tons of annual paddy from 275,267 hectares of land.
According to the Directorate of Agricultural Development in Biratnagar, the province has a total of 713,333 hectares of arable land. However, due to irrigation shortages and dependence on rainfall, farmers have been unable to cultivate all available land.
Paddy productivity averaged 4.29 metric tons per hectare. Compared to the previous year, 1.97 percent more land was planted with paddy, resulting in a 3.19 percent increase in production.
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During the same period, the province produced 238,308 metric tons of Chaite paddy, a variety of paddy, from 43,868 hectares; 1,166,148 metric tons of maize from 277,166 hectares; 85,972 metric tons of millet from 57,274 hectares; 137,730 metric tons of wheat from 51,635 hectares; 4,775 metric tons of buckwheat from 2,896 hectares; and 1,285 metric tons of barley from 986 hectares.
In fruit production, orange cultivation yielded 64,824 metric tons from 8,107 hectares, while winter fruits produced 21,044 metric tons from 2,873 hectares. Orange productivity stood at 8 metric tons per hectare, and winter fruits averaged 7.32 metric tons per hectare.
Director Prakash Kumar Dangi shared that during FY 2024/25, pulses were produced on 35,132 hectares (40,937 metric tons), and oilseeds on 41,681 hectares (51,515 metric tons).
Other notable productions included potatoes, with 1,087,411 metric tons from 66,399 hectares; cardamom, 7,150 metric tons from 14,191 hectares; sugarcane, 342,285 metric tons from 5,932 hectares; and mushrooms, 6,121 metric tons.
While potato and sugarcane production increased, cardamom output dropped by 5.7 percent.
On average, a person in the province requires 191 kilograms of food grains annually. With a surplus of 697,355 metric tons during this period, Koshi Province has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains.
