Around 66 per cent farmers in Dhanusha district have been mainly planting Hardinath Loktantra, Meghasta, Basmati, Sona Mansuli, Rambilas, Mithila, Katarani, Tulasi, and Ful varieties of paddy and some other varieties though the NPCRP recommended various 68 varieties in the district.[break]
The NPCRP that is under the Nepal Agriculture Research Council recommend the national level paddy species to the farmers and has been developing the generic seed of a new variety of paddy.
The NPCRP was established as a separate entity in 2054 BS. Before this, it was under the Regional Agriculture Research Center, Parwanipur. NPCRP produces new hybrid varieties of paddy and fertilizers, said coordinator Surya Narayan Sah.
The NPCRP, established as the agriculture farm with the joint efforts of the Government of Japan and Nepal, has been working as the National Paddy Crop Research Centre.
Currently, study and research on 18,500 different varieties of paddy is going on in the country. NPCRP has established a museum to preserve the indigenous paddy varieties.
The museum has stored around 100 indigenous varieties of paddy for the conservation. The museum would play important role in preserving the indigenous paddy in the context of the local farmers opting for more high-yielding and hybrid varieties to the local varieties of paddy.
Spread on 42 hectares, the farm produces different varieties of paddy seeds from paddy crop planted on 20 hectares of land. NPCRP has claimed that farmers from Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west have benefited from the programme.
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