Though drought has adversely affected paddy cultivation in eastern and central plains, there are still chances for heavy rain this monsoon, a meteorologist said.
Farmers planting rice saplings to mark Ashad 15. The government has declared Ashadh 15 of the Nepali calendar as the ‘National Paddy Day’. Nepali farmers celebrate the day as a festival to eat curd and beaten rice
Talking to Nepalnews, KB Manandhar, senior divisional meteorologist at the Weather Forecasting Division at the Tribhuvan International Airport said that monsoon in east and central plains was disturbed as the low-pressure system moving up (north) from Bay of Bengal went lower north-west into India instead of moving towards us.
In Nepal, June 10-12 and September 23-25 is the height of monsoon, which is the best time for paddy cultivation. “As monsoon period still continues, there is plenty of chances of rain,” he said adding, “The rains during the last three days has witnessed significant rise.”
Moderate rain has already started in Biratnagar, Janakpur, Jiri, Taplejung and Okhaldhunga showing increased chances of heavy rain in August, Manandhar said.
According to him, plains east of Simra witnessed just over half the normal rainfall in July while east and mid hills observed almost 30 percent less rainfall.
According to reports, only 40-60 percent of the arable land has so far been transplanted this season due to the drought in mid and east Nepal.
Usually, by the third-week of July, paddy is transplanted in over 95 percent land. But this time, most of the fields in east and central plains have remained barren, reports said. July is the most active monsoon month.
Insufficient rainfall this year has affected paddy farming in Sarlahi, Rautahat, Parsa, Udaypur, Dhanusha, Sirah, Saptari and Jhapa, among other mid and eastern plain districts.
However, Manandhar said that there was no sign of drought in most west, mid west and far west districts with most places witnessing more or less normal rainfall during July. According to him, Dhangadi, Surkhet and Jumla witnessed 21, 45 and 64 percent more rainfall in July while Pokhara and far west districts observed 40 and 28 percent less rainfall respectively. He added, cultivation was not much affected there.