Farmers in Siraha district who had been worried of long spell of drought felt a sigh of relief after rainfall last night.
The rain has brought cheers to the farmers as nearly 50 per cent paddy field has yet to be planted due to short of rainfall.
Farmers had witnessed their farmlands drying up, seedlings turning yellowish and paddy plantation becoming almost impossible due to lack of water. However, last night's rain has brought some hope, said Birendra Chaudhary, a local farmer, of Lahan-8.
"There is hope the seeds that had turned yellowish could be transplanted. Although the water for plantation is still insufficient," he mentioned.
Badri Narayan Yadav, Agriculture Coordinator at Lahan Municipality, also echoed the same notion. According to him, even the recent rainfall was not adequate. "If it rained continuously for a day or two, planting paddy would be easier. But looking at today's weather, it does not seem likely," mentioned Yadav.
In southern part of Siraha, underground water source were used for paddy plantation, but most of the farmers in the northern side of the district were not able to do so.
According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre Siraha, only 50 per cent of the paddy plantation had been undertaken as of last Friday.
Monsoon active in Madhesh but rainfall still inadequate
According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the monsoon's low pressure line is currently shifting towards Nepal. This has caused light to moderate rainfall in some areas.
However, this system remained active in India for a long time resulting in dry conditions in Madhesh region.
The Department recorded light to moderate rainfall in various areas across the Madhesh Province in the past 24 hours.
The data unveiled by the Department showed that Siraha and Saptari recorded the highest amount of rainfall with 99.4 mm and 91.8 mm, respectively, while Sarlahi reported lowest rainfall with 48 mm in the Province.
Continuous rainfall over the next few days is still necessary to complete paddy plantation for the remaining farmlands in Siraha and other districts across the Province.
It may be noted that the cabinet meeting on July 23 had declared Madhesh Province a disaster-hit zone for a period of three months, citing acute water shortage caused by prolonged drought. (RSS)
