19 poush, 2078: Rice production in the current fiscal has significantly shrunk and the fall is the lowest in the past five years. According to the statistics unveiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development on Sunday, this year the rice production went down by 8.74 percent compared to the production of the last fiscal year (2020-21). This year, the production was 5,130,000 metric tons while it was 5,621,000 last fiscal year. In the previous three years, the production was 5,550,000 metric tons (fiscal year 2019-20), 5,610,000 (fiscal year 2018-19) and 5,151,925 (2017-2018) fiscal year 2074-75 BS). Though earlier, it was estimated that the rice production this year would increase, the offseason rain during the harvest season had its implications on the yield. According to Ministry Spokesperson Prakash Sanjel, the offseason rains, wind and storm had damaged rice crop during the harvest season mainly in Kailali and Kanchanpur in Sudurpaschim Province and Bardiya, Banke and Kapilvastu districts in Lumbini Province, which led to the fall in the entire national figure of the rice production. According to the Ministry, the unexpected rains had damaged 424,113 metric tons of paddy cultivated in 111,609 hectares of land. Comparatively, Sudurpaschim Province has lagged behind in paddy production. It produced 441,913 metric tons paddy, which is a 31.49 percent decline as opposed to the previous fiscal year. Similarly, Lumbini Province saw an 18.38 percent decline, Province 1, Province 2, Bagmati Province and Karnali Province 0.93, 5.24, 0.35 and 8.76 percent respectively. However, Gandaki Province has increased paddy production 2.33 percent in the current fiscal, 2021/22, according to a data published by the Ministry. This season, over 1.4 million hectares of land was cultivated for paddy production. —
