Rain Revives Paddy Plantation in Madhes After Weeks of Drought

Until 10 days ago, Shambhu Prasad Yadav of Sakhuwaprasauni Rural Municipality-2 in Parsa district was unsure if he could complete paddy transplantation this season, as a prolonged dry spell had gripped Madhes Province.

The parched fields had developed deep cracks. The provincial government had even declared Madhes a drought-hit zone after weeks of dryness severely disrupted paddy cultivation.

However, almost regular rainfall over the past week has brought much-needed relief to farmers like Yadav across the province.

According to Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Senior Crop Development Officer at the Agricultural Development Directorate, transplantation has gathered pace in recent days. Paddy, Nepal’s staple crop, had been transplanted on 57.27 percent of the province’s 372,645 hectares of paddy land as of August 1. The figure has since jumped by 19.27 percentage points to 76.54 percent.

In the absence of rain, many had been relying on deep tube wells for irrigation — an expensive option, especially in areas with erratic power supply.

Farmers in Bara have completed transplantation on 95 percent of their fields, followed by Parsa at 92 percent. In Rautahat, the figure stands at 85 percent, while it has reached 75 percent in Sarlahi. In Dhanusha, Saptari, and Siraha each the transplantation has reached 70 percent, while it stands at 61.5 percent in Mahottari.

RSS