Hailstone damages harvest time paddy

Parbat, Oct 22: The hailstone occurred in different parts of the district has damaged harvest time paddy, causing sheer disappointment in farmers.

The paddy crop cut down and laid to dry on the fields was damaged by the hailstone. Kusma and Phalebas municipalities, and Jaljala, Modi and Mahashila rural municipalities fared worst in the hailstone hit. A farmer from Kushma-10, Dipak Subedi, shared the plight that the paddy cut and laid to dry on the fields perished after the hailstone. Similarly, most of the farmers were about to harvest the paddy in his area. Nearly 40 percent rice received damage.

The plains of Jukekhola, Chinnekhola, Adhikariphant, Malyangdi, Salghari, Argasel and others incurred huge loss, he added. Similarly, Saraswati Adhikari from Mahashila-5 said they the dried paddy was suddenly hit by the hailstone. She argued that they began harvesting paddy crop after the meteorologists forecasted a clear weather and retreat of monsoon, but in vain. It hurt the farmers much, she wailed.

Parbat district had witnessed similar damage of crop last year. Increase in rice production was expected owing to timely plantation, but the harvest time disaster dampened the hope. Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre in the district, Parashu Ram Adhikari, also said most of the places in Parbat witnessed hailstone which hit the paddy crops and damaged rice.

He further shared the details about the loss are yet to be collected. —RSS