Minister Adhikari Assures Government’s Commitment to Promoting Agricultural Production

Patan (Lalitpur): Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ramnath Adhikari, has said the government is committed to delivering for the cause of farmers.

Addressing the 22nd National Paddy Day and Paddy Transplantation Festival 2082 BS, organised at the National Seed Science Technology Research Center on June 29, the Minister pledged that the State will give priority to farmers’ issues despite the limited resources.

The programme is organized by the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Bio-diversity Conservation, the Department of Agriculture; National Farmers’ Commission and the National Agricultural Research Council. The Day was observed with the theme of ‘Intensification in Rice Crops: Food Security and Self-Reliance’.

“Until we focus on production, the prosperity of the nation will not be possible,” he said, emphasizing the need to promote all varieties of rice available in the country to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. He also reiterated the government’s commitment to this goal. The agriculture minister further promised to end the situation forcing farmers to cry for easy access to fertilizer.

Also speaking on the occasion, President of Agriculture, Cooperative and Natural Resources Development Committee, Kusum Thapa, said that the parliamentary committee will proceed with policy dialogue for the urgency of food-sufficiency in the country and give necessary instructions to the government towards that end.

Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Deepak Kumar Kharal, called for collective efforts to replace the agriculture imports. As he said, the land utilization policy issued by the government has led to the transformation of arable land to a residential area, underlining the need of addressing the issue.

Stating that paddy has been an integral part of human lifestyle and culture, Executive Director of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Krishna Prasad Timsina, added that the NARC has been developing different varieties of rice by resolving climate change-related problems. Preparation was underway to make Nepal self-sufficient in rice by 2030, shared Timsina.   

Similarly, Dayaram Maramachi, who is honoured with this year’s President Outstanding Farmer Award, stressed the need of farmer-friendly policy arrangement and programmes as well as increase food self-sufficiency.

Presenting a working paper on Self-sufficiency on paddy, rice, Joint-Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Ram Krishna Shrestha, said the ten countries producing most rice in the world are in Asia. Nepal’s self-sufficiency in rice production is declining in recent period, he argued.

Likewise, Chief of Centre for Crop Development and Agro Bio-diversity Conservation, Keshav Devkota, shed light on the objective of paddy plantation, sharing that Asar 15 is celebrated as the National Paddy Day every year across the country since 2061 BS with an objective of keeping the morale of farmers high and respecting their labour.

Country’s major food crop, rice has significant role in food security.   

Though two-types of paddy – monsoon paddy and spring paddy, is planted in Nepal, spring paddy is planted on only around seven percent of the total area under paddy cultivation. It was shared that there was a strong possibility of making Nepal self-sufficient on food and strengthening food security by intensifying rice cultivation through expansion of areas for spring paddy cultivation.

Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS)