Kathmandu, November 25

The study committee formed to study the impact of Garima paddy plantation has recommended the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) to provide compensation worth Rs 230 million to the victims of Garima paddy seeds.

According to the study, Garima paddy seeds had affected rice production over 17,000 hectares of land of 6,915 households in 13 districts. The paddy was planted in 13 districts, including Chitwan, Rautahat, Nawalparasi, Nuwakot, Lamjung, Gorkha and Tanahun.

Hari Bahadur KC, spokesperson for MoALD, said that the committee had submitted the study report to the ministry on Friday. “The study committee has mentioned that if losses are calculated only based on the investment made by the farmers then the compensation amount would be Rs 170 million, but if the calculation is done based on projection of rice production then the compensation amount would stand at Rs 230 million,” he informed. KC, however, said that the ministry is yet to decide about how to compensate the victims.

“Currently we are discussing about the compensation procedures on whether the government will distribute compensation or direct seed distribution companies to distribute the compensation to victims,” he said.

“We will soon have discussions with legal and technical personnel and seek their suggestions.

Soon after finding a way out for this issue we will submit a report to the Cabinet for final decision.”

On April 24, the ministry had granted the import contract to Sunrise Agriculture Research Centre Pvt Ltd (SARC) located in Dang district to import hybrid seeds of Garima paddy from Renova Seed Science India Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad. The company had then imported the seeds and distributed it to the farmers. However, as the yields from the paddy turned out to be extremely low, the ministry formed an investigation committee on August 23 to probe the issue.