Kathmandu, Aug. 2 -- A revival in monsoon rains has accelerated paddy transplantation by nearly 10 percentage points from last year's pace, raising hopes of increased output of Nepal's key summer-sown crop after a delayed onset of the monsoon and its slow advance across parts of the country.

Paddy transplantation has reached 92.57 percent of the country's 1.37 million hectares of available paddy fields as of Friday, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture. This means farmers have transplanted paddy on around 1.26 million hectares.

In the same period last year, the transplantation rate stood at 83.93 percent as of July 31.

The paddy transplantation rate in the perennially parched Madhesh province has risen by more th...