Kanchapur Rice Plantation Significantly Delayed Due to Monsoon Imbalance and Drought

Mahendranagar. Due to monsoon imbalance and drought, less than 50 percent of paddy has been transplanted in Kanchanpur by mid-Asar. Last year, by mid-Asar, which is celebrated as Paddy Day, 65 percent of the transplantation was completed in Kanchanpur.

According to the District Agriculture Knowledge Center, this year, due to the lack of timely rainfall, only 45 percent of the transplantation has been done across the district. Chief of the Center, Dharma Saud, stated that the transplantation in the district has been low due to the delay in the monsoon, and informed that paddy cultivation is done in 48,496 hectares of land in the district.

Although irrigation facilities are available in 39 hectares of land across the district, most farmers have to rely on rainwater for paddy cultivation. Chief Saud of the Center said that due to less rainfall this year compared to last year, the transplantation is being delayed. Due to the heat in the last few days, even the paddy planted in the fields is starting to dry up.

According to the Center, most farmers here are facing problems even in drawing water from boring. Saud said that due to the lack of rain, the groundwater level is also decreasing, making it difficult to draw water from boring. "The water level is also decreasing underground," he said, "Farmers are unable to transplant paddy due to lack of irrigation facilities." The Knowledge Center states that paddy transplantation has not gained expected momentum even by mid-Asar.

In Kanchanpur, irrigation facilities have reached 11,600 hectares in Bhimdatta Municipality, Bedkot Municipality, Beldandi Rural Municipality, and Belauri Municipality under the first and second phases of the Mahakali Irrigation.

Similarly, under the third phase of the Mahakali Irrigation Project, a national pride irrigation project is under construction with the goal of providing irrigation facilities to 33,000 hectares in the Malakheti area of Kailali as well as Kanchanpur.