Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MoAC) said paddy production increased by 11 percent to 4.46 million tons during the fiscal year 2010/11. Paddy production last year was 4.02 million tons.[break]
The country produced paddy worth Rs 88.89 billion as per the average price of Rs 19.5 kg fixed by MoAC for this year. The amount is about 7.5 percent of the total GDP of Rs 1.18 trillion in 2009/10.
“Contribution of paddy to total GDP has increased to an estimated 7.5 percent this year from 6.85 percent recorded last year due to rise in productivity though plantation couldn´t be possible in over 60,000 hectares of land,” Dr Hari Dahal, spokesperson at MoAC), said. He said the loss in paddy production has been valued Rs 3.56 billion as around 5 percent of the total paddy land had remained barren this year.
“Adequate rainfall, easy availability of subsidized chemical fertilizers and timdely distribution of improved seeds to farmers were the reasons behind higher productivity, leading to double-digit growth in production,” Dahal added.
The government had distributed over 81,598 tons of chemical fertilizers at subsidized rates and 931 tons of improved seeds to farmers during the year. Last year, the government had distributed 826 tons of improved seeds. Average rainfall in June-September period also increased to 107 mm this year from 78.71 mm recording during the corresponding period last year.
Paddy facts
- 7.5 pc contribution to GDP
- Rise in production by percent
- Loss due to low plantation crosses Rs 3.56 billion
- Productivity up to 2.91 tons per hectare
Per hectare production of paddy increased to 2.98 tons this year, up from 2.71 tons recorded last year. Similarly, paddy production area had increased marginally to 1.49 million hectares this year from last year´s 1.48 million hectares.
Contribution of paddy to Agriculture Gross Domestic Production (AGDP) has increased to around 23 percent from 20.75 percent recorded last year.
Production of other cereal crops like maize and millet hit a new record this year, thanks to rise in productivity and production areas. Maize production increased by 11.45 percent to 2.67 million tons with productivity rising to 2.28 tons per hectare from last year´s 2.20 tons per hectare. Production area of maize expanded to 0.9 million hectares this year from 0.87 million hectares recorded last year.
Maize - a staple in hilly districts - contributes around 7 percent to the country´s AGDP. Production of millet also increased to 302,691 tons from last year´s 299,523 tons.
For the first time, MoAC has also collected data of the production of buckwheat. Total buckwheat production in 2010/11 was recorded at 10,304 tons from 8841 hectares. Buckwheat productivity during the period was 0.85 tons per hectare.
“Given the rise in the production of cereal crops, we are hopeful that food deficit situation won´t arise this year,” Dahal said.
The government had estimated that it would face a deficit of 316,000 tons of food during 2009/10.
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