Kul Prasad Rai

Dhankuta, March 22:

The District Agriculture Development Office (ADO) of Dhankuta has informed that annual maize production in the district last year on 33,174 hectares of land was 33,817 metric tonnes.

The annual report on agriculture development programme and achievement in the fiscal year 2059-60, published by the office, stated that maize production is the highest in the district and was done on 19,900 hectares of land with production of 23,188 metric tonnes. Similarly, barley production was the lowest, done on 25 hectares of land with the total production of 50 metric tonnes only.

Out of a total area of 82,529 hectares, 49.55 per cent or 40,723 hectares of land is arable in the district. Similarly, 44.11 per cent or 32,063 hectares of land makes up the forest area, 0.04 per cent or 220 hectares of land covers the forage area, and 5,203 hectares or 6.40 per cent of the land area is rocks, river, canals, hills and ravines.

Chaitre paddy was cultivated on 1,400 hectares of land with a total production of 5,040 metric tonnes, which works out to be 3.6 metric tonnes per hectare of land. Similarly, monsoon paddy was cultivated on 8,029 hectares of land with a production of 23,605 metric tonnes and its productivity was 2.94 metric tonnes per hectare.

Maize productivity in the district was 1.16 metric tonnes per hectare and barley productivity was 10 metric tonnes per hectare, the report stated.

The report further stated that wheat production in the district in the last fiscal year was done on 2,700 hectares of land and 6.77 metric tonnes of wheat was produced and its productivity was 2.51 metric tonnes per hectare. Similarly, millet production was done on 1,120 hectares

of land with a total production of 7,957 metric tonnes and its productivity was 0.98 metric tonnes per hectare.

According to the National Consensus-2058, total population in the district is 0.166905 million and each person needs 201 kg of food material annually. According to this calculation, the district needs 33.548 metric tonnes of food annually. Similarly, 484 metric tonnes of paddy seed, 498 metric tonnes of maize seed, 333 metric tonnes of wheat seed, 91 metric tonnes of millet and 2.6 metric tonnes of barley is required in the district annually.

The report also stated that 10 per cent of the total food storage, or 6664.5 metric tonnes of food, goes waste in storage houses.

Ram Narayan Devkota, assistant crop executive of the ADO, said that a detailed topographic report on agricultural development in the district would soon be prepared after data is collected from agriculture service centres and sub-centres. This would also actively involve farmers, said Shiva Ratna Shah, assistant agriculture promotion executive.