Lalitpur, Kathmandu: The National Paddy Day and Transplantation Festival 2083 has been celebrated by spraying manure through drones and planting paddy through machines.
Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, coordinator of Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee under the House of Representatives, inaugurated the festival with the slogan “Climate Friendly Technology, Self-sufficiency and Prosperity in Rice” organized by National Crop Science Research Centre and Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation Centre at Khumaltar of Lalitpur today.
On the occasion, he said that the present government was moving ahead to make the country self-reliant in food grains.
“Today is the day to respect agriculture profession and farmers,” he said, adding that the country, market and economy cannot run without production, and that the government should pay attention to identify and resolve the real problems of the farmers. “The contribution of farmers’ hard work and sweat should be respected,” he said.
Member of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Devendra Gauchan, said that although the policy system is good, it should be emphasized on structural reforms.
He urged the government and private sector to work together through innovation to address the growing demand for nutritious beaten rice in the international market.
Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra stressed on the need of contributing to a smooth supply chain by increasing productivity of paddy by reducing human resource cost through increasing production of paddy due to urbanization and plotting.
Stating that the government has emphasized on encouraging exporters to import and export paddy, he said the government has paid attention to making it easy for the farmers by fixing the support price on time, increasing investment in research for the development of paddy varieties, expanding irrigation and promoting Chaite paddy by making food security a mission.
Similarly, Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, said that the Department of Agriculture was paying attention to addressing the problems of farmers and irrigation.
Acting Director of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Dr. Shrimat Shrestha, said that the Council has paid attention to making the people prosperous by producing seeds of improved varieties of rice at a time when agricultural land is shrinking due to urbanization.
Stating that the Council was working for the development of drought- and inundation-resistant varieties of rice, he complained of lack of budget for the development of advanced technology.
On the occasion, Dr. Homnath Bhandari, International Coordinator of IRICA for Nepal and Bangladesh, said that the research and innovation was focused on increasing productivity, using less human resources, capacity building and developing gene technology for the production of low-carbon food.
Stating that the use of AI technology has increased everywhere these days, he said that AI technology has been focused on increasing productivity and the rice production system.
Chief of the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation, Keshav Devkota, presented a presentation on “Self-sufficiency in Rice and Rice: Present Situation, Problems and Challenges and Future Course of Action.”
The Council informed that seeds of 140 types of paddy have been produced and works were underway to aid irrigation and production.
Dr. Tek Gotame, Director of Crop and Horticulture of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, said that the Nepal Agricultural Research Council is working to develop climate-resilient seeds with emphasis on formulation of plans and programs for import substitution.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्