KATHMANDU, June 30 The Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) felicitated five best performing farmers with ‘Rastrapati Utkrista Kisan Puraskar’ on the occasion of National Rice Day, today. Kalu Hamal, from Tikapur-7, Kailali bagged the award for excellent performance. Hamal outperformed other farmers in banana farming. Minister for Agricultural Development Hari Parajuli handed over Rs 200,000 to Hamal for his outstanding performance. Likewise, Chandralal Tamang from Bhirgaun-1, Dhankuta; Chhayam Bahadur Thapa from Lekhanath-2, Kaski; Chhaya Dutta Bhusal from Sorahawa-2, Bardiya, and Prakash Panta of Chitraban-7, Chitwan, were also awarded as best performers. Tamang is involved in farming large cardamom, Thapa in piggery farming, Bhusal in fish farming and Panta in floriculture. Each of them received cash prize of Rs 100,000. Hamal, Panta and Thapa had received grants from the Project for Agriculture Commercialisation and Trade (PACT) of the Ministry. The government has started awarding farmers to acknowledge their contribution and encourage them in their job. All of the awarded farmers were selected from the district and regional level competition. They had already received Rs 10,000 each for securing top spot at the district level competition and Rs 25,000 for becoming the forerunner at the regional level competition. A jury team led by Dinesh Prasad Parajuli, joint secretary and chief of the Agribusiness Promotion and Statistics Division selected the name of the best performers.