KAVRE: Recent heavy rainfall caused agricultural losses worth hundreds of millions of rupees in two local levels of Kavrepalanchowk district, according to official estimates.
Panauti Municipality and Bethanchowk Rural Municipality have submitted preliminary damage reports to the district Agriculture Office detailing the destruction caused by the unseasonal rain.
According to the Agriculture Office, agricultural production spread across around 600 ropanis of land in Bethanchowk Rural Municipality–1 was damaged, with losses estimated at around Rs 6.5 million.
Crops including potatoes, mustard, maize, peas, oranges, bodhichitta flowers and chayote were affected. Vegetable and fruit saplings were also destroyed.
The rural municipality reported damage across several wards, including around 400 ropanis in Ward No. 2, 1,200 ropanis in Ward No. 3, 600 ropanis in Ward No. 4, 500 ropanis in Ward No. 5 and 300 ropanis in Ward No. 6.
Similarly, Panauti Municipality has reported extensive losses to potato farming alone. According to Chief Administrative Officer Nokhiram Oli, potatoes cultivated on 750 hectares of land suffered partial or complete damage, with losses estimated at Rs 432.6 million.
The municipality also reported additional losses in vegetable farming, including tomatoes and cucumbers. Around 500 metric tons of tomatoes cultivated on 10 hectares were damaged, causing losses worth Rs 2.5 million, while cucumber losses on another 10 hectares were estimated at Rs 1.5 million. Overall agricultural losses in Panauti alone have been estimated at around Rs 460 million.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Office said damage reports from Wards 10 and 12 of Dhulikhel Municipality and some other affected areas are still being collected.
Office Chief Kul Prasad Dawadi said coordination has been initiated with the provincial government to provide relief assistance to affected farmers. According to him, detailed data on crop losses caused by rainfall in different local levels are being compiled for compensation and relief distribution.
Following the rainfall, a team including Kavrepalanchowk lawmaker Madhu Kumar Chaulagain, local representatives and technicians from the District Agriculture Development Office had inspected the affected areas and collected information from farmers.
Chaulagain said he would raise the issue in Parliament and take initiatives to ensure relief support for farmers affected by damage to potatoes, vegetables and fruit crops in various wards of Dhulikhel and Panauti municipalities.
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