Food stock depletes by 80%, says MoAD

KATHMANDU, Aug 17:

Country's food stock depleted by around 80 percent in Fiscal Year 2014/15 due to drop in production of major cereal crops, shrinking farmland and devastation caused by the earthquake.

Statistics of Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) shows food stock dropped to 155,558 tons at the end of 2014/15 compared to 789,890 tons in 2013/14.

"Such a massive decline in food stock can create problems in future," Shankar Sapkota, spokesperson of MoAD, told Republica, adding, "Food stock fell also because of reduction in paddy production by 5 percent."

Paddy production came down by 250,000 tons in 2014/15 compared to a year earlier, according to MoAD.

Depleting food stock at a time when number of food-deficit districts is increasing has become a major challenge for us, said Sapkota.

According to MoAD, 32 out of 75 districts of the country will be in a food deficit situation in 2015/16 which means they have to depend on food produced in other districts. The number of food-deficit districts was 30 in 2014/15.

MoAD officials say food-deficit situation will be severe in 10 out of 14 worth quake-hit districts including Okhaldhunga, Sindhuli, Nuwakot and Ramechhap. Dhading, Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk, which were in a food-surplus situation last year, are in a deficit situation this year.

Officials say the 14 districts alone will face shortage of 553,000 tons of food gains this year. Last year, these 14 districts had witnessed deficit of 294,000 tons only.

The country had reported food surplus of 943,000 tons in 2011/12 and 408,000 tons in 2012/13.

Source: Republica