Khwap (Bhaktapur), 22 August. The farmers of Bhaktapur have become sad after the damage to the paddy crop that was about to ripen due to the incessant rain last night. Farmers have expressed concern that the year's hard work will be wasted due to the damage to the paddy crop which is about to ripen. The heavy rains that have fallen as the time for harvesting rice is approaching have put the year-round hard work of the farmers at risk.
Farmers are more worried about the loss of yield due to rain and wind at the time of ripening of paddy, which has been grown by applying sewage, sewage and irrigation since planting. According to Sougat Giri, a farmer of Chalingag, Changunarayan Municipality, Ward No. 5, Bhaktapur, the rain in the night caused damage to the paddy field after the river entered the paddy field.
He said that piles of garbage accumulated in the river for a long time also entered the fields, causing further damage to the paddy crop. He informed that in addition to water freezing in the fields due to the rain, the water from rivers and creeks entered the fields and destroyed the paddy crops.
"From the time the rice is planted until the rice is brought into the house, we have to worry about whether the rice will be flooded after the rain," he said. Giri said that this time too, all the farmers here are sad after the paddy crop, which was ready to ripen, was destroyed by rainwater.
Farmers here have been demanding from the local level for proper management of rivers and creeks, removal of garbage and construction of organized corridors to solve the problem of inundation of fields during the rainy season.
He said that if the problem is not solved in time, the rice crop will be damaged every year and the production and income of the farmers will be affected. According to Rampyari Suwal, a farmer from Bhaktapur, the paddy is destroyed when the paddy is about to ripen. According to him, the fallen paddy should be picked up again with manpower, that is, it should be plowed. Even so, the paddy is reduced to an empty husk. Therefore, when the paddy grows, that hollow husk turns into paddy, he informed.
Bhaktapur is known as farmer's district. Among the four municipalities of the district - Bhaktapur, Madhyapur Thimi, Suryabinayak and Changunarayan, especially in various areas of Suryabinayak and Changunarayan municipalities, they are still planted in a large area. Due to the rapid physical expansion in the rural and urban areas of Bhaktapur, the pressure on the fields and natural water channels is increasing.
Farmers have experienced that this affects the drainage of water during heavy rains and increases the risk of flooding in the fields. There has also been a demand that the local level should immediately monitor the damage on the spot, collect the details of the actual damage and provide necessary support to the affected farmers.
