Rautahat

This year, most of the fields in the Terai are barren till mid-Ashar. In the drought-hit western Terai, the farmers, the farmers and the farmers are busy. In some places, seeds have been prepared with the help of groundwater, but it is not enough for sowing. While many farmers are struggling due to lack of fertilizer, seeds and irrigation, government and non-governmental organizations are preparing to celebrate Paddy Day on Monday. The 23rd Paddy Day and Planting Festival program is going to be organized with the slogan 'Climate-friendly agriculture, increase in paddy production'.

  Till 12 Asar, only 12.07 percent of the country has been planted The Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Development Office, Bardiya, is going to organize Paddy Day and Planting Festival on Monday in Gulariya-3 Khairi. ‘Farmers are stressed due to lack of rain,’ said Kadhai Godiya of Gularia-2, ‘A program has been organized to celebrate Paddy Day for formality.’ He said that only a photo of the paddy being planted by shaking a rake is being taken on every year’s Paddy Day. ‘There is a problem due to lack of rain. But Paddy Day has to be celebrated, it is our annual program,’ said Office Chief Kamala Adhikari. She said that preparations are being made to celebrate the day by drawing underground water in 3 katthas in Khairi by motor.

There has been no rain in Bardiya and other districts of the western Terai till Sunday. Farmers are worried about how to save their paddy paddy in the extreme heat. Even after the paddy fields were ready for sowing, Pralhad Godiya of Mathura, Gularia-9, said that he had to wait for rain from the sky. ‘The fields started drying up,’ he said, ‘There is a growing concern that paddy cultivation will be affected this year.’ Rainfed paddy is cultivated on 50,150 hectares in Bardiya. Firtuman Chaudhary, information officer at the Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Development Office, said that 19 percent of the paddy has been sown till Sunday.

While farmers are unable to sow paddy due to lack of irrigation, all three levels of government are preparing to celebrate the day by visiting the fields in rural areas. The Lumbini Province government is preparing to celebrate Paddy Day in Sunwal Municipality of West Nawalparasi. Ram Prasad Pandey, acting director of the Directorate of Agriculture Development, said that preparations are being made to celebrate Paddy Day in Sunwal Municipality in coordination with all three levels of government.

Big people come to the fields and splash mud on the occasion of Paddy Day, but neither fertilizer comes on time for us, nor does water flow in the fields. - Tapeshwor Chaudhary, farmer from Rautahat ‘It is seen that the most rice has been sown in Pyuthan in Lumbini and the least in Palpa,’ he said, ‘There are preparations to celebrate Paddy Day on Monday in coordination with the three levels of government to encourage farmers.’ He said that preparations are being made to celebrate the day in coordination with the federal government’s National Agriculture Modernization Program, the provincial government and the local level.

Paddy Day is also being celebrated in Manpakadi of Suddhodhan Rural Municipality of Rupandehi. Bhaskar Poudel, head of the Agricultural Knowledge Center Rupandehi, said that Paddy Day will be celebrated in the presence of Tulsi Prasad Chaudhary, Minister for Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives of Lumbini Province. After participating in Manpakadi, Minister Chaudhary will reach West Nawalparasi to celebrate the provincial government’s Paddy Day.

A program has been scheduled to celebrate Paddy Day on Monday in all 10 local levels of Kapilvastu. An NGO has invited a team including Chief District Officer Nawaraj Gautam to Harnampur on Monday morning to participate in the Paddy Day. Preparations are underway to participate in a program organized by the Agricultural Knowledge Center and the National Agricultural Modernization Program in Dumra on Monday afternoon.

Farmers are in a hurry as government agencies are rushing to celebrate the day. It has been more than two weeks since Abhishek Pandey of Yashodhara-2 Bhavpur sowed seeds of improved varieties of Kala Namak and Saba Mansuli to sow two bighas of land. 'Initially, I was troubled by not getting fertilizer and seeds. I brought seeds from the Indian market to hide the eyes of the security personnel and started the work. The fields have been torn apart due to lack of rain. The seeds have started to burn,' he said, 'There is a risk of wasting the investment if they are not planted on time.'

Krishna Kohar of Sadwa, Kapilvastu-3 has also not been able to plant the seeds yet. 'I have not planted the seeds when they should have been planted,' he said, 'It is certain that it will be delayed. There has been no rain due to the lack of active monsoon, and I am frustrated because I have not been able to plant the seeds.' Although it rained around Butwal on Saturday night, there was no rain in the border area. He, who has been selling his crops to earn a living, is worried about supporting his family of 8. 'I should have focused on proper irrigation arrangements rather than the festivities of Paddy Day,' he said.

The seeds were planted in earnest from the first week of Asad until 15 Jestha. However, due to lack of rain, farmers from Bharwaliya in Mayadevi Rural Municipality have not been able to plant seeds even after a month's delay, said Hariram Chaudhary. If seeds are not sown by the first week of Ashar, planting will be delayed. This will lead to a decrease in rice production, said Ghanashyam Chaudhary, head of the Agricultural Knowledge Center. 'Failure to plant the main grain crop on time will affect the life cycle of the farmer,' he said. Rice is cultivated on 65,852 hectares in Kapilvastu. The productivity of rice here is 4.2 metric tons per hectare.

Although the festivities to celebrate Rice Day have begun, there is no enthusiasm among farmers in Rautahat. Tapeshwor Chaudhary, a farmer from Simrabhavanipur in Rautahat, says that the style of making music and speeches in the name of festivals without paying attention to the main problems of farmers should be stopped. ‘Big people come to the fields and splash mud on them,’ he said, ‘For us, neither fertilizer comes on time, nor does water flow in the fields. The abundance of rainwater and the lack of fertilizer are constant constraints.’

According to the Agricultural Knowledge Center, rice is cultivated on 34,000 hectares in Rautahat. Last year, due to lack of timely rain, about 10 percent of the fields were barren. According to the center, last year, the district produced 21,578 metric tons of rice less. In a district that produces 116,788 metric tons of rice, 95,130 metric tons were produced. When the monsoon is late or there is no rain, farmers are forced to look to the sky to plant and sow rice.

This year’s 15th Ashar has been neither joy nor surprise for the farmers of Kailali, the granary of the far west. The fields are barren due to lack of rain until mid-Ashar. The sown paddy has started to dry up. Farmers are more concerned about saving the crop than the joy of the day. Deepak Bik of Olani, Godavari Municipality-12, is worried about the fields. According to him, in previous years, the planting was in full swing by mid-Asad. ‘In the past, we used to be busy planting paddy in the second week of Asad,’ he said, ‘We didn’t even have time to eat. This time, we have to spend the day looking at the sky.’