Paddy production declined in Chitwan

Ratnanagar. Paddy production has declined in Chitwan this year. According to Min Bahadur Pun, information officer of the Agriculture Knowledge Center, 93,312 metric tonnes of paddy has been produced in 22,927 hectares of land this year. Paddy production has declined by 688 metric tonnes this year. Last year, 94,000 metric tonnes of paddy was produced in the same area.

The average productivity of paddy this year is 4.07 metric tons per hectare as against 4.10 percent last year. Chitwan is considered to be the storehouse of paddy. Savitri, War and Sawa paddy are widely grown here. There is sufficient production of paddy at all local levels except Ichchakamana village municipality.

Especially in Bharatpur metropolis and Khairhani municipality paddy is cultivated a lot. More paddy is produced in Piple, Kathar, Kumroz, Bhandara, Bachauli and other areas of East Chitwan. In the western region of Chitwan, Sivanagar, Gitanagar, Jagatpur, Meghauli and other areas also produce sufficient paddy. The total cultivable land in Chitwan is 46,300 hectares. Of which, paddy is cultivated in only 22,927 hectares. Pun said that drowning was the main reason for the decline in paddy production this year. This year, 12 per cent of the total area under paddy has been damaged due to flooding.

Other reasons for the decline in paddy production include problems in pollination due to continuous rains during flowering of paddy, increase in the incidence of gnats and falcon insects, and non-use of low quality seeds, said Pun. The farmers said that due to the decline in production, paddy cultivation has not been able to get fertilizer on time, farmers have not been able to get improved seeds and irrigation facilities have not been provided.