Rain damaged paddy crops, reduce production
DHANGADHI: OCT. 18 – Rains in Kailali have damaged the rice crop. The rain that has been falling since Sunday evening has damaged the paddy fields in different parts of the district.
Farmers here are worried after the rains damaged their crops. Farmer Narendra Chaudhary of Kailari Rural Municipality, Ward No. 3 of the district said that the paddy planted in one bigha was completely submerged. He said that the production would be reduced this year due to the damage to the paddy crop. “The water submerged the paddy which was in the field for drying,” he said.
Similarly, the paddy of farmer Chhotelal Rana of Dhangadhi Sub-Municipality-8 has been completely submerged in water. ‘Some were cut and kept to dry. We kept a few handfuls, ‘he said,’ and the water that fell overnight drowned us completely. ‘
Water-soaked paddy has added to the hassle of drying again and farmers are worried about declining production. Hans Chaudhary of Kailari is also worried after the paddy heaped in one bigha was completely submerged in water. “The paddy piled up in the field has been completely submerged by the rain since last evening,” he said. “Only half of the paddy will be used.”
Khagendra Raj Sharma, head of the Agriculture Knowledge Center, Kailali, said that the farmers had damaged thousands of hectares of paddy fields. He said that the loss due to unseasonal water would reduce paddy production by 5 to 10 percent this year.
According to him, 280,000 metric tonnes of paddy was produced in Kailali last year. Although paddy production is expected to increase this year due to timely rains, it is estimated that production will decrease due to damage caused by rains during importation.
Chief of the Center Sharma said that the farmers would be directly affected as even the produced paddy could not fetch a good price. “Paddy is black because it is wet and not suitable for seeds,” he said. About 70 to 80 percent of the farmers here have already harvested paddy.
According to the Agriculture Knowledge Center Kailali, paddy is being cultivated in about 70,000 hectares of land here.
