Nawalparasi. Paddy worth Rs 18 million has been damaged due to incessant rain in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East).

According to Sanjay Dhakal, agriculture economist at the Agriculture Development Office, Nawalparasi (East), paddy crops worth Rs 18 million have been damaged in the district.

Dhakal said paddy crops that were harvested in 190 hectares of land in Nawalpur district have been damaged due to recent rains. He said that 521 metric tonnes of paddy was damaged.

Dhakal, an agro economist at the Agriculture Development Office, said paddy was cultivated in around 18,300 hectares of land in Nawalpur this year. Now the process of bringing paddy is continuing. So far, around 75 percent of farmers in the district have harvested paddy. Savitri, Sawa Mansuli, Hardinath, Ram Dhan, hybrid and local varieties of paddy are cultivated in Nawalpur. Dhakal said that apart from the rainy paddy, Chaite paddy is also cultivated in around 1,210 hectares of land in the district.

Farmers complain of not getting proper price for paddy

Farmers cultivating paddy in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East) have complained that they have not received the minimum price fixed by the government. The government has fixed the minimum support price of coarse paddy at Rs 3,463 per quintal for the fiscal year 2082÷83. However, the farmers have complained that they have not received the price.

Indralal Mahato, a local of Kawasoti, complained that the price of paddy was low. He complained that paddy was sold at a lower price than the government’s demand. Kul Prasad Tiwari, chief of Agriculture Development Office, Nawalpur, said that farmers from different parts of the district have been complaining that they have been selling paddy at less than the support price fixed by the government.

Tiwari said that traders in Nawalpur have not paid more than Rs 2,800 to Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy. He urged the traders to purchase paddy at the minimum support price (MSP).