Nepalgunj sees zero paddy plantation
BANKE:- With the final week of June underway and no significant rainfall in sight, prolonged dry conditions have left deep cracks across most agricultural fields in Nepalgunj, bringing paddy transplantation to a complete halt.
Although Nepal observes National Paddy Day on Monday, June 29 (Asar 15), paddy transplantation has yet to begin anywhere within Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City due to the lack of rainfall. Even seedbeds have not been prepared in most areas, according to the city’s Agriculture Division.
Ambika Rijal, Chief of the Agriculture Division at Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City, said the continued absence of rain has left farmland parched and visibly cracked at a time when farmers would normally be busy transplanting rice seedlings.
Rijal said only a handful of farmers with access to boreholes and water pumps had managed to prepare seedbeds, while the vast majority had been unable to begin any farming activities because of the dry weather.
Although light showers fell on Sunday morning, Rijal said the rainfall was far from sufficient to support paddy cultivation, leaving farmers increasingly concerned.
Even the National Paddy Day programme to be observed on Monday in Nepalgunj Ward No. 12 will rely on water pumped from tube wells, as natural rainfall has failed to arrive, according to Rijal.
Local resident Chet Sharma of Karkando in Nepalgunj-18 said fields have started developing deep cracks as the district entered the end of June without adequate rain. He warned that unless substantial rainfall arrives soon, Nepalgunj and the wider Banke district could face drought conditions, leading to a significant decline in paddy production this season.
Most farmers in Nepalgunj and across Banke depend primarily on rain-fed agriculture. With the monsoon yet to provide adequate precipitation, they have been unable to begin paddy transplantation, heightening fears of reduced harvests and financial losses.
According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Banke, only farmers in areas served by the Sikta Irrigation Canal have been able to prepare seedbeds and commence transplantation. The Sikta Irrigation Project currently provides irrigation facilities to around 22,000 hectares of farmland across the district.
