This year, farmers in the Rajapur Municipality and Geruwa Rural Municipality of Bardiya have started planting spring rice (Chaité Dhan). The planting usually begins in late Falgun and is harvested by the end of Jestha.
Last year, spring rice was cultivated on 1,175 hectares of land in the district. However, this year, the area has decreased to 750 hectares, according to the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernization Project Office in Gulariya.
Farmers are planting Haldinath-1 and Haldinath Hybrid varieties. Last year, the district produced 3,783 tons of rice, said project head Birendra Lamsal. “Harvesting starts in late Jestha and continues into Asad. About half of the rice is consumed by farmers, while the rest is sold to local traders. This rice is mainly used to make beaten rice (chiura),” he added.
Shiva Tharu, a farmer from Rajapur-5, shared that she switched from maize to spring rice four years ago. “Previously, we used Geruwa River water for irrigation, but as the water level dropped, we now rely on pumping systems,” she said.
Farmers in the area grow three crops annually: spring rice, monsoon rice, and mustard. However, they say that the sugar mill in the region has reduced the farmland available for rice cultivation. Farmer Banwari Lal Chaudhary from Rajapur-5 mentioned that if proper irrigation facilities were available, they could grow more spring rice.
Spring rice cultivation in Rajapur and Geruwa started in 2016. After harvesting spring rice, farmers begin planting monsoon rice. In these two areas alone, monsoon rice is grown on 16,000 hectares, while across Bardiya, it covers over 50,000 hectares.
