Ramechhap, June 30

Prolonged drought has hampered paddy plantation with only around eight per cent paddy planted till date in Ramechhap district.

Almost all fertile land in the district has turned barren due to lack of rainfall.

Economist Purusottom Rauniyar at Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Ramechhap, said around eight percent paddy plantation had been completed till date in the district. “Around fifty per cent paddy plantation was supposed to be completed by the end of the month,” he said. Rauniyar said that local farmers could not even grow paddy seedlings in the fields due to drought.

While farmers across the country celebrate the National Paddy Day, many farmers only look at the sky in despair.

Mashini Sarki, a farmer of Sunarpani, said they could not plant paddy as the water in the field had gone dry. “We used to plant paddy when the rain fell,” she said. Sarki added there has been no rainfall for planting paddy.

Another farmer of Manthali, Dhruba Subedi, said paddy is yet to be planted at Ranajor and Sukajor, among other places. Some farmers said had not been planted for the last nine years due to the lack of rainfall.

Similarly, the seasonal crops have also begun to dry in the northern part of the district with zero rainfall for the last two months.

Farmers, who depend on rainfall are depressed. “We had never faced such drought before,” said Raj Kumar Bohora of Tiplung.

Ram Kumar Manandhar of Pakarbas said maize had wilted in the field due to drought.

He said villagers were reeling under acute drinking water crisis.