The drop in production will inflict a loss of around Rs 12 billion on economy, as insufficient rainfall and shortage of chemical fertilizers during plantation season hit productions as well as productivity. [break]
The summer crop output report that the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) made public on Monday states that the production of paddy, which commands around 50 percent of the total cereal production, would decline to 4.5 million tons from an all time high of 5.07 million tons recorded last year.
If average price of paddy calculated by the government is anything to go by, total worth of rice produced across the country this year stood at around Rs 94 billion. According to the MoAD, average price of paddy increased to Rs 20,830 per ton this year from Rs 19,800 recorded last year.
This year´s paddy production fell by 567,000 tons as the plantation areas and productivity dropped by 7.2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, compared to last year.
“Late and weak monsoon as well as the shortage of chemical fertilizers are the major factors that dragged down paddy production,” Prabhakar Pathak, spokesperson for MoAD, said. “Adoption of modern technology and improved seeds, however, helped us limit the drop.”
Pathak said shrinkage of production areas by 111,000 hectares and decline in productivity are also the causes behind the double-digit fall in paddy production.
Tarai, which is unofficially termed the country´s food basket, saw total production decline by 14.7 percent with the major producing districts such as Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha and Mahottari reporting significant drop in production. The report shows that 40 districts reported drop in production, 20 districts enjoyed rise in production and 15 districts saw stagnation in paddy production this year.
The report also states that production of two other summer crops maize and millet also fell by 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively compared to the corresponding figure last year.
Total maize and millet production stood at 1.99 million tons and 305,000 tons with their productivity falling by 5.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. Buckwheat production increased by a marginal 0.3 percent, thanks to 3.3 percent rise in production areas to 10,681 hectares.
Despite drop in the production of major cereal crops, officials have claimed that country´s food security will not worsen if the production of wheat and barley -- the key winter crops - did not decline.
“We are receiving positive reports of winter crops situation across the country. Our food surplus won´t drop, compared to last year, if our winter harvest is good,” he added. He said food surplus of 886,000 tons last year would also help maintain food security situation in the country.
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