The government's initiative to expand spring paddy cultivation remains largely confined to planning, as the targeted increase in farmland has not materialized due to a lack of irrigation facilities. The government had aimed to expand spring paddy cultivation to 200,000 hectares, but this goal has yet to be achieved.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, spring paddy is currently cultivated on 100,000 hectares of land in Nepal. During her tenure, former Agriculture Minister Jwala Kumari Sah had announced plans to expand cultivation by an additional 100,000 hectares in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation. The plan targeted an expansion to 200,000 hectares within Fiscal Year 2023/24, but this has not been realized yet.
Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Matina Joshi Baidya stated that increasing spring paddy production requires an expansion of irrigation facility. However, she acknowledged that the plan has stalled due to delays in irrigation projects. “Efforts are ongoing in coordination with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation,” she added.
Despite the lack of expansion, the ministry’s data shows that spring paddy was cultivated on 109,000 hectares in Fiscal Year 2024/25, yielding 544,000 metric tons. In the previous fiscal year (2023/24), 520,000 metric tons of spring paddy were produced on 104,000 hectares. Similarly, in 2022/23, the production stood at 544,000 metric tons from 108,000 hectares.
A 1994 survey by the Department of Irrigation indicated that Nepal has about 2.6 million hectares of arable land, of which only 1.7 million hectares have irrigation facilities. The remaining 900,000 hectares still rely on rainfall. The ministry has outlined plans to provide irrigation to 500,000 hectares of farmland near rivers and streams that currently lack irrigation infrastructure.
Agriculture contributes 24.1% to Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with rice being the largest contributor. In Fiscal Year 2024/25, rain-fed rice was cultivated on 1.42 million hectares, yielding 5.96 million metric tons. Although the cultivation area of spring paddy is much smaller than that of rain-fed rice, its productivity is significantly higher.
According to ministry data, the average productivity of spring paddy is 4.98 metric tons per hectare, compared to 3.74 metric tons per hectare for main-season paddy (monsoon paddy). Senior agricultural expert Chhabi Poudel emphasized that expanding the cultivation area in line with this productivity potential would boost Nepal’s overall rice production. However, he noted that inefficient budget utilization by the Ministry of Agriculture has hindered the expansion of spring paddy cultivation.
