Paddy plantation has already been carried out in 18.42 per cent of rice fields in the country as of today

Kathmandu, June 28

There is good news as the country celebrates the National Paddy Plantation Day tomorrow. Paddy plantation has already been carried out in 18.42 per cent of rice fields in the country as of today, according to the Ministry of Agricultural Development.

In the same period last year, paddy plantation was completed in only eight per cent of the total paddy cultivation area of 1.43 million hectares.

Paddy plantation coverage has significantly increased as compared to the previous year due to the timely monsoon. “Timely plantation of paddy will boost production,” said Shankar Sapkota, joint spokesperson for MoAD.

“It takes a month to develop seedbeds for plantation and if the time to develop seedbeds crosses plantation time then output will not be good.” Paddy plantation was affected in both the hills and the Tarai areas last year because of the late monsoon and the drought that caused substantial drop in paddy production.

Paddy plantation has been carried out in 13.64 per cent and 10.26 per cent in western development region and eastern development region, respectively, as of today. Paddy is being cultivated in 382,867 hectares in the eastern development region and 308,090 hectares in the western development region, according to MoAD.

Paddy is the major agricultural crop of the country, which contributes around 58 per cent in the total cereal crops production. Paddy contributes around 18 per cent in total agricultural gross domestic product and 4.5 per cent in the country’s economy.