Farmers suffer as rain destroys paddy

The continuous rains in Baglung's Nisikhola have caused great damage to the paddy crop. The continuous rains since last October 18 caused damage to beans, yardlong beans and soybeans which were brought in along with rice cultivation.

Rural Municipality-2 Kakhgendra Bahadur Sunar said, "The paddy crop, which has started falling due to continuous rains, has all been destroyed. We should not pick it before it is ripe, nor leave it at that. We are worried about what to eat throughout the year. When we see the paddy all over the field, our hearts burn. It is rotten."

He says that the water has damaged even the seeds of paddy. Sunar says, "This year, the rice was very expensive. In the previous year, they used to bring in 17 muri of rice. This year, it was estimated that it would increase to 20 muri."

Another local resident Meen Bahadur Khatri said that this year's unseasonal rain has caused a lot of problems. He says that 10 muri of paddy was lost due to rain. "The paddy was planted after a long dry spell, but it all fell when it was ripe," he said.

The most paddy growing areas of the rural municipality are Baykhola of Ward No. 1, Kalnechaur of Ward No. 2, Bohra Village of Ward No. 3, Fant and Rupautephant, Swaranphant of Ward No. 4. Paddy is damaged in most of the fields in these areas. Krishnagharti Magar, a local resident, said that after 20 years, so much paddy crops have been damaged in this area. He said that about 60 percent of his rice crop was destroyed. He says, "Rice production was getting better every year, this year too. The rice was very good, however the rain damaged everything."

Bhanubhakta Bhattarai, head of Agricultural Knowledge Center Baglung, said that according to the preliminary report, five percent paddy crop has been lost in Baglung this year. According to him, rice is being cultivated in an area of ​​six thousand hectares in the district. He said that even if it rains, 60 percent of the rice may be lost.

The farmers who suffered losses said that after sending the details to Krishi Gyan Kendra, they will recommend to the ministry for relief. He said that when the farmers sent the details of the damage, they could not get relief last year. “This year we have had long rains, the rains have affected the paddy crop, judging by our preliminary reports so far we have estimated that five percent of the paddy crop has been lost", Chief Bhattarai said.