Nepal : Paddy, rice import surges by 82%, amounting to Rs. 35.5 billion in 10 months
Kathmandu, May 27: Nepal has seen a sharp rise in food grain imports during the first 10 months of FY 2024/25, despite higher domestic paddy production. Paddy and rice imports surged by 82% year-on-year, reaching Rs. 35.53 billion. Paddy imports rose 72% to 496,989 tonnes, while rice imports nearly doubled to 201,916 tonnes. Maize imports also climbed 32% to 299,989 tonnes. However, wheat imports plummeted from 191,622 tonnes to just 5,542 tonnes. Smaller imports included millet (Rs. 643 million), buckwheat (Rs. 188 million), and barley (Rs. 3.5 million).
Kathmandu, May 27: Nepal has witnessed a significant surge in the import of major food grains -particularly paddy, rice and maize – during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year 2024/25.
According to the trade statistics of the Department of Customs, the import of paddy and rice has increased by 82 per cent during the review period compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year 2023/24.
Despite the production of paddy getting higher this year, the import of paddy and rice increased significantly.
According to the report of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, around 5.95 million tonnes of paddy was produced this year. The production of paddy increased by 4.04 per cent in this year against last year’s yield. About 5.72 million tonnes of paddy was produced last year.
The country imported rice and paddy worth Rs. 35.53 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year while paddy and rice worth Rs. 19.50 billion was imported during the same period last fiscal year.
Around 496,989 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 19.77 billion has been imported in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year while 288,708 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 8 billion was imported in the first 10 months of the last fiscal year 2023/24.
In the meantime, the country imported 201,916 tonnes of rice worth Rs. 15.76 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. In the corresponding period last year, 76,327 tonnes of rice worth Rs. 7.98 billion was imported.
The statistics show that the import of rice has increased by 97 per cent and paddy by 72 per cent during the review period as compared to the same period last fiscal year.
Similarly, the import of maize too increased during the review period.
Around 299,989 tonnes of maize worth Rs. 15.93 billion has been imported. This is 32 per cent higher than the import of maize during the first 10 months of the last fiscal year. About 278,475 tonnes of maize worth Rs. 12.05 billion had been imported by mid-May 2024 of the last fiscal year.
However, the import of wheat has decreased significantly during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last fiscal year.
The country imported 5,542 tonnes of wheat worth Rs. 268 million during the review period. Around 191,622 tonnes of wheat worth Rs. 7.80 billion was imported during the first 10 months of the last fiscal year.
Similarly, the country has imported millet worth Rs. 643 million, barley worth Rs. 3.5 million and buckwheat worth Rs. 188 million during the review period.
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Source : Rising Nepal Daily
