Jhapa Farmers Face Severe Economic Losses Due to Recurrent Natural Disasters

Jhapa. Farmers in Jhapa Rural Municipality have been incurring severe economic losses due to continuously increasing natural disasters. In recent years, the impact of storms, hailstorms, floods, and climate change has caused significant damage to the commercial agriculture sector here, especially maize and banana cultivation.

 These recurring disasters have directly affected farmers' production, income, and investment. Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) leader and Member of Parliament Khushbu Oli stated that this crisis has struck for the fourth time this year.

According to local farmers, banana cultivation alone has suffered losses amounting to millions of rupees this year. Alongside this, other crops such as paddy and maize have also sustained major damage due to natural calamities. Continuous losses are weakening farmers economically, and the agricultural profession itself is facing risk.

Taking this serious situation into consideration, she announced that she has demanded that Jhapa Rural Municipality be declared a natural disaster-affected area. The necessity for immediate and effective steps to protect and rehabilitate farmers and ensure sustainable agricultural production has been highlighted.

Oli presented various demands on behalf of the farmers to the Government of Nepal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the Provincial Government, and the Jhapa Rural Municipality. Besides demanding that Jhapa Rural Municipality be declared a natural disaster-affected area, she also demanded that a realistic assessment of the damage to banana and maize cultivation be collected and appropriate compensation be arranged.

Similarly, she emphasized the need for immediate redressal of the damage assessment previously collected by the Agriculture Knowledge Center Jhapa and other relevant bodies.

In addition, the necessity of implementing special agricultural insurance and conservation programs to mitigate damage caused by storms and hailstorms has been pointed out.