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. The country is largely dependent on rainfall for agriculture because only 25 per cent of the total cultivation area is covered by irrigation facility. The MoAD has said that it has distributed 3,382 tonnes of high quality paddy seeds to farmers and managed proper and timely distribution of chemical fertilisers. Paddy plantation has been carried out in 28.32 per cent of paddy land in mid-hills, 27.56 per cent in high hills and 14.3 per cent in the Tarai. Of the total of 1.43 million hectares of paddy fields, 984,339 hectares lie in the Tarai, 382,569 hectares in the mid-hills and 58,438 hectares in high-hills. The Tarai region covers around 70 per cent of the production area and production. “There is enough room to increase paddy production in 21 districts of the Tarai, which is also termed as the rice bowl of the country, through expansion of irrigation facility, high quality seeds and agriculture expansion service,” said senior rice expert Bholaman Singh Basnet. “Mechanisation is also quite easy in the plains as compared to other parts of the country, where the terrain is difficult for farming and due to the domination of small holding farmers, especially in mid- and high-hills.” Paddy plantation has been carried out in almost half or 41.46 per cent of the area in far-western development region. Paddy has been cultivated in 170,117 hectares of land there. Similarly, paddy plantation has been completed in 18.84 per cent of the total 172,648 hectares in mid-western development region, which is followed by central development region. Around 14 per cent of the 391,624 hectares of paddy fields have been planted in the central development region. 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.