Chitwan, a district in the Bagmati Province, has not received adequate rainfall this monsoon, even as the third week of July has passed.
The delayed monsoon has adversely affected rain-dependent agriculture, particularly paddy transplantation.
Farmers who had managed to transplant paddy using irrigation are now worrying as recently planted seedlings are drying up in the fields.
Water levels in local sources, including rivers and streams, have dropped considerably, creating further challenges in managing irrigation.
In western Chitwan, under the Bharatpur Metropolitan City, farmers primarily rely on the Narayani Lift Irrigation System for irrigation. However, due to a sharp decline in water levels in the Khageri River, many farmers who previously used this water source have now turned to the Narayani system for irrigation.
As a result, water from the Narayani River is being diverted into the Khageri Canal to support irrigation efforts in the affected areas.
Kularaj Chalise, Chief of the Narayani Lift and Khageri Irrigation Management Division Office, stated that water from the Narayani River is being released into the Khageri Canal 24 hours a day in response to growing demand from farmers.
“With the delay in rainfall, we havehad to regulate canal operations more intensively,” Chalise said. “Under the Narayani Lift Irrigation Project, irrigation is being provided to 4,700 hectares of land, where 90% of paddy transplantation has already been completed."
The 3,900 hectares of land has been covered by the Khageri Irrigation Project in Devnagar, Gitanagarm and Parbatipur. It has so far witnessed the completion of only 70% of paddy transplantation.
Areas such as Sharadanagar, Shibanagar, Parbatipur, and Jayanagar are among the worst affected by the rainfall deficit.
Farmers are also turning to underground water sources for irrigation, though this is proving insufficient in many cases.
Farmers said that though the use of underground water provided support for irrigation, it has not been sufficient.
As they report, due to low electricity voltage, they are able to operate tube wells only during the night which further limits irrigation capacity.
Khilaraj Regmi, Vice Chair of the Khageri Irrigation Project Users Committee and a farmer himself, said that the drought has significantly delayed paddy transplantation. “Water supplied through the Narayani Lift has been a respite, but it hasn’t fully addressed the needs."
Due to limited water availability, farmers are accessing canal water on a rotational and rationalized basis.
Purna Bahadur Ranabhat, Chair of the Narayani Lift Irrigation Consumers’ Committee, added that the prolonged dry conditions have led to the wilting of transplanted seedlings.
According to the District Agriculture Development Office, 87.60% of paddy transplantation has been completed so far in Chitwan.
Office Chief Jhalaknath Kandel reported that the western belt of Bharatpur Metropolitan City has been most affected by the lack of rainfall, with seedlings beginning to dry up in several areas.
