Palpa, Oct. 22 -- Farmers in Palpa district are facing losses just as they prepare to harvest their rice crops, with a fungal disease known locally as kalopoke spreading through fields planted with various hybrid rice varieties.

The disease has been reported in much of the district, particularly in hybrid rice crops. Agricultural experts suspect the problem may have originated in infected seeds, raising concerns about seed quality and its impact on production.

For farmers, the outbreak is another blow to a crop already vulnerable to weather-related damage.

"Sometimes floods damage our rice crops; at other times, we have to contend with diseases like this," said Buddhi Raj Basyal, a farmer from Tansen Municipality-9. "Rice is what we de...