MAHOTTARI, July 10: Mahottari district has witnessed only 10 percent of paddy plantation as the peak plantation Nepali month of Asar nears its end. 

Failure to prepare nursery beds for paddy seedlings and lack of adequate rainfall have caused a delay in paddy plantation, said Dr Ram Chandra Yadav, chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Center, Mahottari. 

Around 50 percent of paddy cultivation took place in the district during the same period last year, he said.   Out of the total 50,000 hectares of paddy cultivable land, paddy is grown on 45,000 hectares on average. Of them, 21,000 hectares have access to irrigation, and the remaining depend on rainwater. 

As a result of the dependency on rainwater, the production fluctuates. When it rains, the production goes up or else it goes down, according to the Center. 

The Center has taken initiatives to increase the production. It has distributed agriculture equipment on 50 percent subsidy, and managed seed storage and processing. It has also reached an agreement to install 120 shallow tube-wells for irrigation, he said. 

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