Erratic and inadequate rainfall during the current monsoon season has severely affected paddy plantations in Nepal, particularly in the eastern Terai. The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture (DoA) reveal a significant decline in paddy cultivation across Koshi and Madhesh provinces, with plantation levels dropping by over 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
As of Sunday, paddy plantation in Koshi Province has declined by 20.4 percent, while Madhesh Province has recorded an even steeper fall of 27.7 percent. Nationally, plantation coverage has reached 59 percent of the total paddy cultivable area, compared to 67.6 percent during the same period last year. Out of Nepal’s total 1,383,732 hectares of land used for rice production, only 816,405 hectares have been planted so far.
Director General of the DoA, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, attributed the decline to inconsistent rainfall, especially in the eastern Terai, one of the country’s main rice-producing regions. Despite the early arrival of the monsoon, rainfall in the area has been significantly below average.
Data from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DoHM) supports this claim. Nepal has received only 27 percent of the average rainfall so far this monsoon season—around 400 millimeters, compared to the normal 1,400 millimeters. Alarmingly, Janakpur has received just 11 percent and Biratnagar only 15 percent of their expected monsoon rainfall.
Despite the nationwide shortfall, Sudurpashchim Province has shown impressive performance, achieving 93.1 percent plantation on its 176,151 hectares of paddy land, up from 86 percent in the same period last year. In contrast, Madhesh Province has only managed to complete 33.8 percent of plantation on its 372,645 hectares, a sharp drop from 61.5 percent last year.
In Koshi Province, plantation progress stands at 41.32 percent out of 276,386 hectares, while Bagmati Province has completed 76.31 percent plantation over 120,545 hectares. Gandaki Province has achieved 66.99 percent plantation across 94,182 hectares, Lumbini Province has covered 73.7 percent of its 302,939 hectares, and Karnali Province has completed 83.23 percent plantation on 40,884 hectares.
Nepal’s agricultural sector remains heavily dependent on rain-fed farming due to inadequate irrigation infrastructure. Government statistics show that paddy alone contributes around 7 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the fiscal year 2024/25, Nepal was estimated to produce 5.955 million metric tonnes of paddy, a 4.04 percent increase from the previous year despite a marginal decline in cultivated land.
The current monsoon deficit poses a serious threat to this projection, raising concerns about national food security and economic stability in the months ahead.
