The lack of rainfall in Nepal this winter has severely affected the country's wheat plantation, with wheat production this season being projected to go down by 10 percent, a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MAC) said Wednesday.

Wheat plantation season in Nepal normally begins from November and lasts until December in Nepal.

"As there was no rainfall during this winter, production is expected to decline by around 10 percent," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The production in areas that lack irrigation network is likely to go down by around 50 percent," the official said, adding, " However, production is expected to remain almost at last year's level in areas where have well-functioning irrigation system."

According to an agro-scientist at the MAC, wheat needs water either through irrigation or rainfall during the crucial period within three weeks of plantation. "If wheat plants do not get water during that crucial period, its growth would be affected," he said.

"A major chunk of wheat cultivation land in Nepal lacks reliable irrigation systems and rainfall is the only source of water. So absence of rainfall this season means wheat planted in these areas are badly affected," said the official.

If the current situation continues, things would be more troublesome for farmers cultivating wheat, the official said.

Statistics of the MAC show that only 38.5 percent of the total cultivable land in the country has access to irrigation, which comes to around 1 million hectares.

According to the official, people opt to plant cash crops in the lands having irrigation facility. So, tracts of land under wheat plantation are not connected with irrigation system.

Wheat is cultivated in 700,000 hectares across the country. It accounts for 5 percent of the agro-gross domestic product.

According to an official at the Meteorological Forecasting Division, wheat producing areas have no rainfall for over three months. This is one of the longest dry winters in history.

Source: Xinhua