Dhalkebar, 03 Aug: After a long wait, farmers in Nepal’s Madhesh Province have begun paddy planting as the rains have finally arrived. Prolonged drought had left fields dry and cracked, but with rainfall now sufficient to soften the soil, farmers have resumed transplanting paddy.
Manoj Mahato, a farmer from Hariharpur in Mithila Municipality–3 of Dhanusha district, said the recent rainfall has brought life back to farming. According to him, the lack of adequate rainfall in the months of Jeth and Asar (mid-May to mid-July) had severely affected the paddy planting season. “Some had managed to plant using deep borewell irrigation, but the intense heat caused the seedlings to wither. The recent rain has revived the crops,” he said.
Mahato described the recent rainfall as a blessing for both farmers and their paddy crops. With no irrigation, the planted seedlings were on the verge of drying out, and farmers feared their hard work would go to waste. He said the rains have saved everything.
Another farmer from Dhalkebar, RamEkwal Yadav, shared that the rainfall has lifted the spirits of the farmers. “After the first week of Jeth, there was no rain. Not only was planting halted, but even the transplanted paddy started drying out,” he said. With the recent showers, farmers are once again busy in the fields.
Due to the lack of rainfall, paddy cultivation across Madhesh Province had come to a halt, prompting the provincial government to declare the region drought-affected. The federal government had also listed Madhesh as a crisis-affected area for a period of three months.
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According to Dr. Umesh Dahal, Secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives, rainfall has been recorded across all districts of Madhesh Province in recent days. He stated that as most areas of the province have received rain, the pace of paddy planting has increased. “Since the beginning of Asar (mid-June), there had been no rainfall, and both seedlings and saplings had started to dry out. The current rainfall will help save them all,” he said.
According to data from the Directorate of Agricultural Development, Madhesh Province has a total of 372,645 hectares of land available for paddy cultivation. As of Shrawan 16 (August 1), paddy has been planted on 213,438 hectares — which is 57 percent of the total area.
Secretary Dahal expressed optimism that the area under cultivation will now increase. As rainfall continues, he said, the remaining fields are expected to be planted within the month of Shrawan. Though the rains arrived late, he noted, they have brought renewed hope and enthusiasm among the farmers of Madhesh.
