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🇳🇵 Nepal /Environment & Climate

Nepali farmers battle surging plantation costs as delayed monsoon dims paddy outlook

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Nepali farmers face high plantation costs and a dim paddy outlook due to a delayed and stalled monsoon.
  • Dry fields, falling groundwater, and heatwaves are exacerbating water scarcity, leading some municipalities to restrict groundwater extraction.
  • Rising fuel prices and seed costs, coupled with low government support prices, are increasing farmers' financial burdens.

Farmers across Nepal are grappling with escalating plantation costs and a bleak outlook for the paddy season as the monsoon, officially declared, has yet to bring much-needed rainfall to many regions. Fields remain dry, and declining groundwater levels have rendered shallow tube wells ineffective.

Temperatures across many parts of the central and western Tarai are hovering around 40 degrees Celsius, with no rainfall in sight.

— Sanjeev AdhikariA meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology described the severe heat and lack of rain in key agricultural areas.

The monsoon entered Nepal around June 19 but stalled after reaching Lumbini Province, leaving central and western Terai regions experiencing temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius with no rain in sight. This heatwave and water scarcity have prompted some local governments, like Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality, to ban groundwater extraction for paddy transplantation to conserve resources.

Farmers like Pramesh Yadav are struggling with the increased costs. Yadav noted that fuel prices have significantly raised production expenses, with diesel costing Rs223 per liter for his irrigation pump. He estimates the total cost for cultivating paddy for one season, including seeds, transplantation, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides, to be around Rs130,000.

Without rain, my seedbeds are dry. I’ve already run my boring pump seven times, and it’s still not enough.

— Pramesh YadavA farmer from Bardia district expressed his struggle with irrigation due to the lack of rainfall.

Adding to their woes, farmers face discouragingly low minimum support prices set by the government for their harvest. Mangatthu Yadav in Kapilvastu spent Rs3,200 on seeds alone and another Rs3,200 on weeding and fertilizer, only to see his seedlings dry up due to lack of rain. He now faces an additional expense of Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 to replant.

After paying for seeds, transplantation, irrigation, fertiliser and pesticides, cultivating paddy for a season incurs around Rs130,000.

— Pramesh YadavPramesh Yadav detailed the significant expenses involved in paddy cultivation for a single season.

Ramdas Kewat in Rautahat has not even been able to prepare his seedbeds, lamenting the absence of irrigation and constantly looking to the sky for rain. The unpredictable weather, rising production costs, and the government's unsupportive pricing policies are creating immense pressure on Nepali farmers.

Eventually, if we manage a good harvest, the government sets a discouragingly low minimum support price.

— Pramesh YadavPramesh Yadav criticized the government's low minimum support prices for agricultural produce.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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