New paddy variety fails to yield grain, worrying Chitwan's Madi farmers

Farmers in Chitwan's Madi who planted a new paddy variety this year have seen production drop after their fields failed to form panicles and grains failed to fill.

The problem has appeared in Biosid 301, a variety farmers in wards 5, 6 and 7 of Madi municipality, among others, bought and planted from agrovets.

Even in fields that had yielded well until last year, this time some showed no panicles at all, some had small panicles, and when harvest time came, only empty, hollow panicles -- locally called "tatla" -- were found in places.

According to the municipality's agriculture section, the variety showed signs of blast disease and brown spot disease even at the seedling growth stage.

According to the agriculture section, around 3,000 kg of seed of this variety was sold in Madi and cultivated on around 100 hectares. Since the same problem has appeared in most fields, the agriculture section suspects there may be a defect in the seed itself.

With production down, farmers worried about securing enough grain to eat through the year have been visiting the agriculture section almost daily in search of a solution. Affected farmers have also informed the District Agriculture Development Office, Chitwan, which said it is collecting details from the seed company, agrovets and farmers to determine the actual cause and extent of the damage.