NRB study shows area under crops declines in Koshi province

Kathmandu, Jan 13: The area under crops has decreased in Koshi province with the growing migration and the trend of constructing houses and residential structures on agricultural land.

The ‘Provincial Economic Activities Study Report for Fiscal Year 2023/24’ published by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows that the area covered by all the crops has declined by 1.55 percent in the fiscal year 2023/24 as compared to the fiscal year 2022/23.

The Central Statistics Office estimates Koshi province’s contribution to the national GDP to be at 15.84 percent in FY 2023/24. The province’s share in the GDP was 15.88 percent last FY. The contribution of agricultural, industrial, and service sectors to the GDP in the province is estimated to be 32.80 percent, 16.32 percent, and 50.88 percent, respectively.

The area under the overall crops has decreased as the area covered by rice, maize, millet, potato, soybean, orange, and turmeric among the crops has declined, the report stated. Out of the total area covered by agricultural produce in Koshi Province, 87.92 percent of the area is covered by food and cash crops, 5.11 percent by vegetable crops, and 6.97 percent by other crops.

Rice, maize, wheat, and millet crops account for 71.64 percent of the total area covered by agricultural produce. Overall agricultural crop production in the province has increased by 1.13 percent in the fiscal year 2023/24. The overall production of agriculture has witnessed an increment as the production of paddy, in particular, has increased by 7.45 percent and millet by 0.86 percent under the food crop.

In comparison to FY 2022/23, the production of vegetables has climbed by 1.98 percent, tea by 0.01 percent, coffee by 1.23 percent, and honey by 0.28 percent, whereas the production of fruits has dropped by 0.94 percent and spices by 8.03 percent. —RSS