March 10: The government has failed in its plan to expand the area of land where pre-monsoon paddy is cultivated. The government had planned to expand pre-monsoon paddy cultivation to an additional 100,000 hectares this year by expanding irrigation facilities. However, the plan has failed because the government has not completed its preparations even when it is time to plant pre-monsoon paddy.

The then Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr Beduram Bhusal, in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, proposed a plan to increase the area of paddy production by expanding irrigation facilities. However, with the formation of a new cabinet, the plan has failed to materialize.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Sabnam Sivakoti Aryal, said that although the file has been sent to the Ministry of Finance for approval of the pre-monsoon paddy expansion program, the plan for this year could not go ahead due to the delay in approval. It is necessary to get approval from the finance ministry regarding the budget and priority district. The plan failed this year due to the delay on part of the finance ministry. Now it's already time to start planting rice, so it seems that we have to prepare the plan for next year," she told New Business Age.

Area and production decreasing

Meanwhile, the data shows that both the area and production of pre-monsoon paddy are decreasing. According to the data provided by the ministry, the area of pre-monsoon paddy and its production have been decreasing in recent years. Farmers' attraction towards paddy production has not increased due to the lack of sufficient irrigation facility.

In Nepal, more than 1.4 million hectares of land are cultivated. Pre-monsoon paddy is considered good in terms of productivity. However, the government seems indifferent to the expansion of pre-monsoon paddy.

According to the ministry, 561,197 metric tons of pre-monsoon paddy was produced in 120, 042 hectares of land in the fiscal year 2078/79. In the year 2079/80, the production area decreased by 11,435 hectares to 108,607 hectares. In that year, the production of pre-monsoon paddy also decreased by 20,866 metric tons to 540,331 metric tons.

Similarly, in the year 2080/81, the area of pre-monsoon paddy has reduced to 104,712 hectares. In addition, this year the production was also limited to 520,808 metric tons.