National Rice Day and Planting Festival 2083 has been celebrated by spreading fertilizer through 'drones' and planting rice through 'machines'.

With the slogan 'Climate-friendly technology, self-reliance and prosperity in rice', the National Crop Science Research Center and the Crop Development and Agricultural Biodiversity Conservation Center organized the 23rd National Rice Day and Planting Festival in Khumaltar, Lalitpur today.

Coordinator of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, inaugurated the festival by raising a drone to spread fertilizer in the rice fields. On the occasion, he said that the current government is moving forward to make the country self-reliant in food. 'Today is a day to honor the agricultural profession and farmers,  "The country, market and economy cannot function without production. Attention should be paid to identifying and solving the real problems of farmers. In order to meet the needs of Nepal, the Nepal government should pay attention to providing farmers with a reasonable support price for their products, adequate irrigation system and development of necessary technology," he said. "It is known that the government is working on agricultural insurance and relief. We have paid attention to attracting youth to agriculture. We should respect the contribution of farmers' hard work and sweat."

Dr. Devendra Gauchan, a member of the National Planning Commission, emphasized structural reforms despite the good policy arrangements. Emphasizing coordination and contact between farmers and the Agricultural Research Council, he said that attention should be paid to the production of climate-adapted nutritious rice. He urged the state and private sectors to work together through innovation for this as the demand for nutritious rice is increasing internationally.

Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra, said that there is a situation where rice production is declining due to urbanization and 'plotting', and stressed the need to contribute to a smooth supply chain by increasing rice productivity, two-stage production, promotion of irrigation and use of mechanization to reduce manpower costs and increase productivity. Informing that the government has emphasized on encouraging rice to be exported instead of imported, he said that the government has focused on making it easier for farmers by fixing support prices on time. He said that it has emphasized on increasing investment in research for the development of rice varieties.

Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, informed that the Department of Agriculture has focused on solving the problems of farmers and irrigation and is working carefully for the minimum support price of rice and policy arrangements.

Acting Director of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Shrimat Shrestha, said that due to urbanization, agriculture  He informed that the Agricultural Research Council has focused on producing improved rice seeds in a situation of land shrinkage. He said that the council is working to develop rice seeds that are resistant to drought and flooding.

Homanath Bhandari, International Coordinator for Nepal and Bangladesh of IRRI, an organization active in rice research and development, said that the focus is on increasing productivity in research and innovation, increasing production with less manpower, increasing capacity and developing gene technology for low-carbon food production.

Keshav Devkota, Head of the Crop Development and Agricultural Biodiversity Conservation Center, made a presentation on 'Self-reliance in Rice and Rice: Current Status, Problems and Challenges and Future Directions'. Informing that rice worth Rs 202 billion is produced annually, he said that rice contributes four percent to the national GDP. He said that the council has produced 140 varieties of rice seeds and will provide support in irrigation and production from here.