The Agriculture Research Centre in Bijaynagar, Jumla will be recommending two new varieties of paddy-Lekali 1 and 3- for farmers to plant this year. They have higher productivity and are also disease and cold-resistant. The new varieties of rice will yield 4-6 tonnes per hectare.
Presently, a majority of farmers in Jumla grow the traditional Kalimarsi paddy. Jumla, situated in the mid-western hills of Nepal, cultivates rice at altitudes ranging from 2,400 m to 3,050 m. Chhumjul in Jumla at 3,050 m is the place in the world where rice is grown.
According to the centre, these new improved varieties of paddy have been tested in Jumla since 2009, and the distribution of seeds will start by this year.
Ram Bahadur Bhujel, chief of the centre, said that they were recommending these rice varieties as the existing type was being struck by neck and leaf blast disease. “The Kalimarsi variety has become old, and it is highly susceptible to leaf and neck blast.”
The centre said that Jumla had been declared a chemical-free or organic district, and it was not a good idea to promote Kalimarsi which requi-res pesticides to protect the crops from the blast disease.
According to Bhujel, the productivity of Kalimarsi rice in Jumla is 1.7 tonnes per hectare, almost 50 percent lower than the national average. As it is a delicious and nutritious type of rice, farmers in Jumla have been reluctant to plant other varieties.
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