August 1: Due to lack of timely rainfall, only about 40% of the paddy transplantation has taken place in Mahottari district so far.  

Lack of monsoon rains and the inability of farmers to sow rice seeds on time, paddy cultivation has slumped, said Ramchandra Yadav, the chief of the Agricultural Knowledge Center in Mahottari.

The district has not received adequate rainfall though the month of July has passed by.  Farmers have cultivated paddy in around 40% of the fields by using costly methods like deep tube wells, shallow tube well, and motor pumps.

Dr. Yadav mentioned that out of the total cultivable land of 45 thousand hectares in the district, only about 9 thousand nine hundred hectares have been cultivated so far.

Farmers have transplanted paddy using high costs methods. Unfortunately,  paddy has started wilting and paddy fields have become parched and dry for lack of water, Bipendra Pandey said.

Another farmer, Ramu Mandal, complained that his paddy saplings had wilted in the field due to lack of rainfall. Upendra Yadav from Ekdara Rural Municipality  Ward-4 said that paddy transplantation could not take place throughout the village and planted paddy had wilted.

Pramod Mandal from Ramgopalpur Municipality Ward-5  complained about not being able to cultivate paddy due to the lack of monsoon rains.

Only around 21,000 hectares of the land has access to irrigation facility in Mahottari. Rest of the land relies on rainwater for paddy cultivation.  Agriculture Knowledge Center has predicted a decline in rice production in this district this year.