Sunsari. The unseasonal rain that occurred on October 29 and 29 has damaged the ripening paddy and vegetable crops of farmers in Sunsari. According to the District Agriculture Knowledge Centre, the damage to paddy and vegetable crops in the district has caused a loss of around Rs 2 billion.

Centre chief Nilkamal Singh said paddy is cultivated in 48,900 hectares of land in the district but incessant rainfall has damaged around 14,400 hectares. According to him, Radhabar and Basmati varieties of paddy have suffered the most damage.

“Around 20 percent of the farmers of the Agute variety had already harvested paddy while the rest were damaged by the storm and rain,” Singh said, adding, “So far, only around 9,600 hectares of paddy has been harvested.” The rest is on the verge of rotting due to floods and incessant rains. ’

According to him, it is difficult to harvest the paddy harvested by the farmers as it is still raining. “If the sun shines for a few days, the fallen paddy can be removed after the water dries up, but some quality will be degraded, otherwise it will rot,” he said.

Junga Bahadur Ghimire, a farmer of Ramdhuni municipality-9, said that the rain completely destroyed paddy planted in two bigha of land. According to him, the paddy left in the field is also on the verge of rotting due to the rain. “Around 12 katthas of paddy has been damaged in such a way that it cannot be used as food or fodder. The rain in the last two days caused a loss of more than two lakh rupees,” he said.

Ghimire said that although some of the ripe paddy was cut, it was damaged by the rain. “The rain that occurred last September did not cause much damage, but the current rain has completely destroyed the harvested paddy and the remaining paddy,” he said. There was a shortage of water in the paddy plantations, and the rain caused havoc during the ripening of paddy through deep boring. Our livelihood is farming, there is no other occupation. ’

Sur Kumar Rai, a farmer of Ramdhuni, said that vegetables and paddy on eight katthas of land were destroyed by the unseasonal rain. He said, “The vegetables were growing, the paddy was also ripening. We manage these rice and vegetables throughout the year, now we are worried about how to survive throughout the year. ’

According to Singh, about 10 percent of millet cultivated in 458 hectares of land in Sunsari has been damaged. He said, “The millet plant is a little smaller and stronger, so there was less damage. According to him, around 95 per cent of vegetables cultivated in 8,100 hectares of land have been damaged.

According to Singh, cucumber, pointed gourd, beans, cucumber and other vegetables and plants have also been destroyed. He said that 80 percent of banana cultivation in 530 hectares of land in the district has been destroyed by rainfall.

According to the Knowledge Centre, paddy, banana and vegetable farms were mostly affected in Dewangunj, Ramdhuni, Koshi, Inaruwa and Bhokraha Narsingh rural municipalities of the district. According to Singh, the loss has been around Rs 2.5 billion as per the data collected so far. “We are collecting details of damages from all the local levels,” he said. For this, a letter has been sent to the concerned body for the collection of details. ’