Paddy production rises in Kanchanpur

Kanchanpur: Paddy production in Kanchanpur has increased this year, according to the Agricultural Knowledge Center, Kanchanpur. The district recorded a 0.2 percent rise in paddy productivity compared to last year.

Information Officer of the Agricultural Knowledge Center, Dharma Bahadur Saud, said that the increase in production is attributed to the use of improved seed varieties and better irrigation facilities. “This year, 23,683 metric tons of paddy have been produced, while 193,984 metric tons were produced last year,” he said.

Saud also mentioned that the Agricultural Knowledge Center has been providing small irrigation facilities to farmers under subsidy in areas lacking access to irrigation. Last year, 776 small irrigation wells (tube wells) were installed across nine local levels. Paddy is cultivated on 48,496 hectares of land in the district, out of which 39,650 hectares have access to irrigation.

In addition to small irrigation systems, 11,600 hectares of land receive irrigation from the first and second phases of the Mahakali Irrigation Project. The project, which began in 2042 BS and was completed in 2048 BS, provided irrigation to 4,800 hectares in its first phase and 6,800 hectares in the second phase, completed in 2052 BS. Bhimdatta Municipality, Bedkot Municipality, and Beldandi Rural Municipality benefit from these phases.

Farmers believe that timely availability of chemical fertilizers could further increase paddy yields. Sagar Rana, a farmer from Bedkot Municipality-9 Sundarpur, said that rice production was good this year due to favorable rainfall during the planting season. “In previous years, we had to rely on boring for irrigation, but this year rainfall met our needs,” he said. Another farmer, Dagoura, added that the combination of timely rainfall and fertilizers contributed to better yields this season.