Stakeholders have raised concerns that the damage caused by floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall in late September will negatively impact the agricultural sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The government has released preliminary estimates showing losses of Rs 6 billion in the agricultural sector alone, which is higher than the damage in other sectors. The total damage from the floods has been estimated at Rs 17 billion.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the most significant damage was to the rice crop, aside from structural losses. Government officials noted that this year’s rice production will be affected as a result of the natural disasters. Although rice cultivation had increased due to favorable rains, the floods in the last week of September have dashed hopes for the expected yield. Rice holds the highest contribution to the agricultural sector’s GDP.
The ministry reported that rice produced on 58,476 hectares across 18 districts, including the Terai, which is considered Nepal’s food basket, were completely destroyed. Senior Agricultural Economist Tilakraj Chaulagain explained that districts such as Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalpur, Jhapa, and Kailali, where rice production is substantial, suffered heavy losses.
“This year, with good availability of water, fertilizer, and seeds, farmers had planted paddy on 98.4% of cultivation area. The production was expected to increase due to this, but the floods impacted these projections,” Chaulagain told New Business Age .
Rice is typically planted on 1,398,985.73 hectares nationwide, and this year, 1,377,216.5 hectares were cultivated—6 percentage points higher than the previous year, when only 92.4% of the land was cultivated.
Additionally, the floods destroyed 1,300 hectares of cardamom, leading to losses worth Rs 70 million. Sugarcane planted over an area of 85 hectares, worth Rs 340 million, were also damaged.
Fish ponds covering 458 hectares in Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, and Parsa were affected, with losses amounting to Rs 1.13 billion. The floods damaged 24 cattle sheds in Panchthar, Dhankuta, and Tehrathum, and caused the deaths of 26,205 livestock. Moreover, 22 hectares of fruit orchards in Kaski, Nawalparasi East, Kanchanpur, and Rautahat districts were also damaged.
Vegetables planted on 4,743 hectares in districts including Khotang, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Bara, and Parsa were destroyed as well, according to the ministry.
Joint Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Hari Bahadur KC, confirmed that rice production will likely be affected due to the damage caused by the floods and landslides. “Rice planted over thousands of hectares have been destroyed, so we expect some impact. However, the full extent of the damage will only be clear after production data is gathered,” he said. Initial expectations for increased production have now been curtailed.
In the fiscal year 2023/24, rice production had increased by 4.33%, reaching a total of 5.724 million metric tons, which is 5.08% higher than the average production of the previous four years. Paddy productivity increased by 4.97%, reaching 3.98 metric tons per hectare compared to the previous fiscal year, and was 6.92% higher than the average productivity of the past four years. According to the Economic Survey of 2023/24, agriculture contributes 24% to Nepal’s GDP.