BANKE: Paddy crops in several parts of Banke have been damaged by rainfall accompanied by strong winds, affecting farmers during the harvesting season.
Jaman Singh Wali, manager of Sakar Agricultural Cooperative Society in Rapti Sonari, said the rain and wind caused significant damage to ripe seed paddy. According to Wali, seed paddy cultivated by farmers on around 150 bighas of land has been affected.
He said the damage during the harvesting period could lead to a shortage of seed paddy for the next planting season.
The cooperative has been distributing seeds to farmers for seed paddy production. Farmers produce seed paddy and sell it to the cooperative, which then supplies it for cultivation.
Wali said paddy had grown well this year due to favorable rainfall, but the recent rain damaged the crop just as it was ready for harvesting.
Sujita Sharma, information officer at the Agricultural Knowledge Centre, Banke, said rainfall during the ripening stage had caused significant damage to paddy in several areas.
Although reports of crop damage have been received from different parts of the district, the exact extent of the losses has yet to be determined, Sharma said.
Of Banke’s total 54,526 hectares of cultivable land, paddy is normally cultivated on around 33,570 hectares. This year, paddy has been planted on 33,503 hectares, according to Sharma.
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