Kathmandu. In Nepal, an agricultural country, imports have increased more than domestic production. Paddy worth Rs 39 billion has been imported into Nepal till Mid-May of the current fiscal year.

Paddy sowing has been completed in only 17.2 percent of the land across the country till June 30. There are 1,391,321 hectares of paddy cultivable land in Nepal. Of this, paddy has been planted in 217,289 hectares of land. In Nepal, 65 percent of the total labor is used in the agriculture sector.

Paddy Day is celebrated every year in the country on June 15. However, the paddy crop cultivated in this way does not meet nepal’s demand. As a result, Nepal imported rice and rice worth Rs 38.94 billion in the 11 months of the current fiscal year.

According to the Data of the Department of Customs, 753,305 metric tons of paddy, rice and kanika have been imported till mid-June of the current fiscal year. Paddy seeds worth Rs 2,570,684 kg have been imported in the 11 months of the current fiscal year. For this, Rs 1.16 billion has been withdrawn.

The government has earned Rs 11.8million in revenue by importing paddy seeds. In the last 11 months, 2,304,484 kg of paddy seeds worth Rs 1.44 billion have been imported from India. Similarly, 266,200 kg of paddy seeds worth Rs 121.376 million were imported from China.

In the 11 months of the current fiscal year, 521.269 million kg of other paddy has arrived. Out of this, Rs 19.99 billion has been withdrawn. During this period, 6,802,506 kg of kanika worth Rs 285.88 million was imported. The government has earned Rs 32.27 million in revenue by buying Kanika.

In the 11 months of the current fiscal year, 4,330 kg of brown rice worth Rs 736,000 has been imported. During this period, 66,397,550 kg of basmati rice was imported.

For this, Rs 7.26 billion has been withdrawn. Similarly, basmati rice worth Rs 10.23 billion was imported during the period. During this period, 156.26 million kilograms of normal rice was imported.