Data Visualization

Nepal's Paddy Economics

  Nepal's Paddy Economics

Paddy is one of the most important staple crop in Nepal. It plays a significant role in domestic production as well as meeting the calorie requirements of Nepali people. Here are few facts about paddy economy in Nepal.

1. Paddy accounts for a fifth of the agricultural output in Nepal.

Paddy production accounts for 20.7 percent of agricultural output and 60 percent of total cereal production in the country. The contribution of other major food crops viz. wheat and maize account for about 7 percent in agricultural output each and 20 percent in cereal production each. 

Composition of Agricultural Output (in percent)

2. The contribution of paddy in GDP is approximately 6 percent.

Being the most important food crop of the country, paddy production can largely influence the growth of GDP. The contribution of paddy itself in GDP amounts to almost 5.6 percent as of 2018/19. This implies that about 18 percent increase in paddy production can push the real GDP growth by one percentage point. 

 3.Paddy production is highly dependent on monsoon and is largely volatile with the monsoon cycles.

Paddy production has largely fluctuated following the monsoon cycles. During the last five years, production of paddy has increased by 3.5 percent on average. Such production has been estimated to decline by 1.05 percent in 2019/20.                                                                                                                                                   

Source: Ministry of Agricultural Development, Nepal

4. Paddy yield has increased over time but still lower than the regional average.

Paddy yield has increased over the last four years continuously by an average of 4.8 percent. Such yield has reached 3.80 metric tonne per hectare in Nepal which is below the average of South Asia (4.0 MT/HA)  and that of Asia (4.8 MT/HA). The world average of rice yield is 4.7 MT/HA. 

The countries with highest paddy yield are  Australia (10.4 mt/ha), Egypt(8.8 mt/ha) and USA(8.6 mt/ha). In  Asia, such yield is 7.0 in China, 4.7 in Bangladesh, 4.3 in Bhutan, 3.9 in India and 3.8 in Pakistan. 

 5. Nepal is one of the top 20 paddy producer in the world. 

In 2018, world output of paddy was 782 million metric tonnes out of which 5.2 million metric tone (0.7 percent of the world output) was produced in Nepal. Top producers of paddy in the world are China, India, Indonesia Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Source : FAO Statistics

6. In Nepal, paddy is grown mostly in Province 2, Province 1 and Province 5.

In 2018/19,  Province 2 contributed to the total paddy production by the highest 26 percent followed by province 1 and province 7. The contribution of  Province 6 in paddy production is just 2 percent only.

Source : Ministry of Agricultural Development, Nepal, 2019

7. In terms of districts, Jhapa, Morang and Kailali top the list of paddy production. 

The districts with largest paddy plantation area are Morang, Jhapa, Kapilbastu, Kailali and Rupendehi. These five districts cover 25 percent of the paddy plantation area of Nepal. On the other hand, districts with largest paddy production are Jhapa, Morang, Kailali, Rupendehi and Bara. These five districts accounts about 28 percent of the paddy production in Nepal. 

8. Bhaktapur has the highest paddy yield and Mugu has the lowest. 

Bhaktapur has an average paddy yield of 4.9 mt/ha followed by Dhading (4.4 mt/ha) and Nuwakot(4.2 mt/ha). Dolpa, Humla and Mugu has an average yield of less than 2 mt/ha. 

9. Nepal is a net importer of rice at present in contrary to its performance up to 1990's.

Nepal was sufficient in rice until 1990. In fact it was a net exporter of rice. Now, the country has become a net rice importer and the trade balance in the item is deteriorating each year.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture

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