Cereal production data formally released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) on Thursday shows that the production of paddy is estimated to touch 5.07 million tons, which is a 60-year high and higher than the 4.97 million tons estimated as the national requirement for this fiscal year.[break]
Dr Hari Dahal, spokesperson at MoAC, said per capita milled rice consumption in Nepal is 122 kg, which works out to 187 kg of paddy. “And the per capita paddy output this year is estimated at 190 kg. So we are in a position to export at least 100,000 tons of paddy this year,” said Dahal.
He also encouraged traders to export rice so that farmers do not suffer from a drop in prices that might result from increased supply.
In a bid to reduce over-concentration on rice in daily food consumption, the MoAC has set the per capita food consumption at 191 kg, with the share of rice at 90 kg, maize and wheat at 45 kg each, finger millet 10 kg and barley at one kg. However, average per capita consumption of milled rice stands in practice at 122 kg.
The ministry estimates that the price of paddy this year would average Rs 19.80 per kg. Based on this, it has calculated that paddy production, which contributes around 21 percent to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP), would cross Rs 100.4 billion. Last year, total paddy output was valued at Rs 75.8 billion
Similarly, the ministry has estimated the value of maize -- the third largest cereal product -- to touch Rs 47.76 billion. The value of maize output last year was Rs 44.65 billion.
According to Dahal, productivity of paddy (3.31 tons per hectare) and maize (2.5 tons per hectare) this year hit all time highs, attributing this to a combination of favorable monsoon, use of better technology and wider availability of fertilizers compared to last year.
Likewise, production of maize, finger millet and buckwheat are also estimated to grow, by 5.4 percent, 4.1 percent and 13.3 percent respectively, this year.
According to MoAC, Jhapa, Rupandehi, Morang, Bara and Kapivastu stood out as the five top paddy producing districts. Syangja, Ilam, Bhojpur, Tanahun and Baglung are the top five maize producing districts.
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