Paddy transplantation progressing twice as fast; over in 59.2pc fields

KATHMANDU, JUL 17 -
Paddy transplantation has progressed twice as fast this year due to favourable weather conditions across the country.

As per the preliminary estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture Development, transplantation has been completed on 59.2 percent of the country’s rice fields compared to 28 percent last year.

The ministry’s statistics show that transplantation has been completed on 903,538 hectares as of July 16. Ministry officials said that paddy transplantation was likely to be completed within two weeks at this current pace. Rice is grown on 1.52 million hectares out of the 3.1 million hectares of arable land available in the country.

Transplantation has been completed on 50,144 hectares, or 73.7 percent of the total land, in the mountain region. The transplantation rate in the mountains was 68 percent last year. Transplantation in the hilly region has been completed on 290,230 hectares, or 73.4 percent of the fields. The figure was 47 percent in the same period last year. Similarly, transplantation in the Tarai region has picked up significantly this year with sufficient rainfall. According to the ministry, paddy transplantation has been completed on 563,164 hectares, or 52.7 percent of the fields. Transplantation could be done on only 19 percent of the land last year due to a drought.

The Tarai, which is the major paddy producing region in the country, contains 71 percent of the rice fields. The hilly region contains 25 percent and the mountain region 4 percent.

In terms of region, the Far Western and Eastern regions saw the highest transplantation rate. According to the ministry, transplantation in the Far Western Region has been completed on 122,330 hectares out of the total of 160,492 hectares. Transplantation in the Eastern Region has been completed on 293,974 hectares out of the total 470,665 hectares.

Similarly, transplantation in the Mid-Western, Western and Central regions has been completed on 101,769 hectares (59.1 percent), 181,076 hectares (57.9 percent) and 204,388 hectares (49.8 percent) respectively. Paddy transplantation has been completed in Dolpa, Humla and Jumla districts in the mountains of the Mid-Western Region while Mugu and Kalikot districts recorded a transplantation rate of 90 percent.

Meanwhile, the central Tarai districts of Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Parsa and Chitwan recorded the lowest transplantation rates. Transplantation has been completed on only 43.8 percent of the total 306,493 hectares of paddy fields. Dhanusha showed the lowest transplantation rate of 17 percent followed by Mahottari (25 percent), Chitwan (32 percent), Rautahat (35 percent), Sarlahi (50 percent) and Parsa (65 percent).

“Labour shortages could be the major reason for the delayed paddy transplantation in the central Tarai,” said Hem Raj Regmi, under secretary at the ministry. “Besides, the maize harvest in some districts like Chitwan has delayed paddy sowing.”

Ministry officials said that a good yield could be expected due to the overall fine performance in paddy transplantation. However, heavy rains in June and July that triggered floods in many areas have affected around 18,600 hectares of paddy fields particularly in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Rautahat, Morang, Bardia, Banke, Jhapa and Udaypur districts.

According to Regmi, 17,000 hectares of paddy fields in the Tarai have been inundated. Around 1,000 hectares of paddy fields have been covered with sand and flash floods have washed away more than 400 hectares.

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