Nepal, June 30 -- It is almost Asar 15 (end of June), the time most of the fields were cultivated and paddy planted if it were the normal days. But the scant rainfall this time has badly slowed paddy plantation.

Kanchanpur district has conducted paddy plantation in less than 50 percent of arable land. It was over 65 percent cultivation till this time last year.

The District Agriculture Knowledge Centre informed that so far the district recorded 45 percent cultivation for rice crops. Chief of the Centre, Dharma Saud, informed that the district has 48,496 hectares of land suitable for the summer crops, largely the paddy.

Most of the land is heavily dependent on monsoon rains for cultivation, as only 39 hectares of land has irrigation f...