National Rice Day to be celebrated in Chitwan tomorrow, PM to attend programme

The National Rice Day, celebrated every year on the 15th of Nepali month Asadh, is going to be observed in Chitwan district this year tomorrow.

On the day, first batch of paddy is planted and people feast on delicacies made up of curd, flattened rice and fruits.

The Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project Implementation Unit, Chitwan is going to organize the festival at Bachauli, known as pocket area for rice, in the presence of the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

Organizing Committee’s Coordinator and Agriculture Department’s Director General, Narahari Prasad Ghimire, shared that they were going to mark the day by planting paddy across one hectare of land using a machine.

During the celebration, farmers will be sensitized about the climate-change resilient breeds of rice, modernization of agriculture and climate-friendly approaches to agriculture among others, Ghimire said.

Paddy is not planted everywhere on the same time due to erratic weather pattern. While seeds are kept for sowing in some places while paddies are planted in other places due to fluctuation in the arrival of monsoon, he added.

Encouraging farmers to use modern technologies to do agricultural works, he said that the production could go up 30 per cent higher if used technologies.

“Five paddy plantation machines are being used in the district at present. Around Rs 5,000 is spent while planting paddy across one bigha of land,” he informed.

The slogan for this year’s National Rice Day is ‘Climate-Friendly Agriculture, Increase in Rice Production’.