Ilam, Dec. 9: Paddy production has declined in Ilam this year. Farmers said that the production decreased because of the floods and landslides of mid-October.

Paddy is cultivated in the lower areas of the district namely Mai, Ilam, and Deumai municipalities and Phakphokathum, Mangsebung, Sandakpur and Maijogmai rural municipalities.

According to the district-based Agriculture Knowledge Centre, about 48,116.07 tonnes of paddy has been produced in the district this year.

Hemraj Panta, a crop protection officer at the Agriculture Knowledge Centre Ilam, said that the production decreased by around 3,440 tonnes this year compared to the previous year.

Last year, 51,556.02 tonnes of paddy was produced. This year, paddy was planted in 14,815 hectares of land.

However, floods and landslides in mid-October caused damage to the standing paddy in many places; in some places, the paddy was even washed away.

The government has introduced a relief programme to the farmers after the unseasonal rains caused damages to the paddy.

However, paddy growers and flood-hit farmers have not been able to get relief so far.

The government has issued the relief procedure and sent it to all the municipalities to provide relief by collecting the details of the damages caused to paddy and the affected farmers.

The details of the damage may be coming, but the municipality has not informed the Agriculture Knowledge Centre," said Panta.

Farmer Bal Kumari Acharya of Soyak in Ilam Municipality-11 said that the flood- and landslide-affected farmers have not received any relief even after submitting the details of the damages to the municipality.

Despite the decline in production, food produced in the district is likely to meet the demand for the district.

Around 58,314 tonnes of food is required for the district annually.

According to the Knowledge Centre, in the district, 145,000 tonnes of food grains including paddy, maize, wheat and barley were produced.

"If all the food produced in the district is used without selling, the product will be enough for the population here. Farmers who grow other cash crops and vegetables have been buying food from outside the district," said Pant.

Different varieties of rice, including Basmati, Chulthe, Jira Masino, Mansuli from Terai district and India are brought to Ilam, said Ilam-based grocery store operator Poshak Baniya.

"Food brought from outside is sold in a larger quantity than that produced in the district. The price of imported food is higher than the locally grown food in the district," he said.