JHAPA: Productivity of rice has increased in Jhapa district. Although the area for rice plantation was shrunken this year, the production continued rising, according to Sagar Bista, chief of the agriculture knowledge center in the district.

The production of monsoon rice this year was 4.89 metric tons per hectare while it was 4.85 metric tons in the fiscal year 2078/89.

This year, the district cultivated rice on 86,625 hectares of land while it had done in 87,500 hectares of land last year.

The area for rice cultivation has declined due to plotting and erosion of land, but productivity is on rise.