Paddy seedlings plantation is yet to complete in Tanahun district for lack of sufficient rainfall in this rainy season. Generally paddy transplantation is completed by the end of Asar month in the district. Dev Bahadur Kamali of Bhanu Municipality-2 in the district said that the farms there are left without planting paddy seedlings as rain has not occurred this year. “Farmers are worried due to insufficient rainfall. Paddy transplantation is done in just half of the farmlands. We fear for limited grain output,” Shivalal Pradhan, a farmer from Kalesti in Vyas Municipality-7 said.

Pradhan said that the farmers are going through hard times as there is no water supply for plantation. Land plots could remain barren this year for lack of rain, Pradip Ghimire of Vyas Municipality-7 added. Likewise, Senior Agricultural Development Officer and Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Tanahun Kul Prasad Tiwari said that around 15 per cent of the farmland is likely to remain barren this year in the district. Lack of timely rainfall is blamed for this condition and the farmers are still waiting for rainfall, he shared.

Tiwari stated that paddy plantation is finished in around 75 per cent of land in Tanahun and it could go upto 85 per cent this year.