Farmers demand compensation for failed paddy crop

Dhading / Oct 6: Paddy farmers here have demanded compensation to what they claim failed crop from the seeds distributed by the District Agriculture Development Office.

The farmers had received paddy seeds called Hardinath 1 from the Office in the previous fiscal year. The paddy seeds were reportedly produced by the Regional Agriculture Research Centre, Bara. However, the seeds did not yield any fruit. The office had distributed more than 18 quintals of the seeds with fifty per cent grant to the farmers.

However, farmers in Nilkantha municipality and Tripureswar and Salang VDCs felt cheated and have demanded compensation for the same, according to Vice-president of National Farmers’ Federation Bhakta Bahadur Basnet. They have handed over a memorandum to the Agriculture Minister through the Agriculture Development Office.

Acting Chief of the Office Durga Dutta Panthi however said it was the centre that provided the seeds, which did not lead to any such problem last year. He hoped that the government would address the concerns of the affected farmers. RSS