August 25: The government is preparing to expand the production area of pre-monsoon paddy by 100,000 hectares.

The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, is planning to expand the area for cultivation of pre-monsoon by extending irrigation facilities to an additional 100,000 hectares of land.

During a meeting with journalists on Thursday, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet said that the government is making preparations to expand the area of pre-monsoon paddy by extending irrigation facilities.

Minister Basnet said that although Nepal is the second richest country in the world in terms of water resources, most of the farmlands are still left fallow due lack of irrigation facility, so there is a plan to expand the irrigation facilities and increase the area for paddy cultivation.

At present, pre-monsoon paddy is cultivated on about 100,000 hectares of land in Nepal. According to a survey conducted by the Irrigation Department in 1994, there are about 2.6 million hectares of arable land in Nepal. Out of that, only 170,000 hectares of land has irrigation facility, while 900,000 hectares of land is dependent on rainfall for cultivation.

Minister Basnet said that there is a plan to provide irrigation facilities by lifting water from rivers and streams in the near future in 500,000 hectares of land which are close to rivers but have not been irrigated.