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Kathmandu Wednesday January 03, 2001 Paush 19, 2057.
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Paddy prices down 5 yr low
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - Paddy prices fell to a five-year low at the end of 2000
thanks to record level production last year fuelled by favourable weather.
According to fortnightly information provided by the Agricultural Department,
Market Development Directorate, the prices of paddy which fell by 36 percent at the end of
2000 as compared to the corresponding period of the last year, pushing the prices to
five-year low.
In Kailali, a far western district, the price of coarse paddy was Rs 700 per
quintal in 1995 and in the year 2000 the price went down to Rs 550 per quintal, whereas
the price of the same paddy was Rs 850 last year.
The medium-class paddy price was recorded as high as Rs 927 per quintal last
year which dipped by 32.6 percent to touch Rs 650 a quintal at the end of 2000.
The price of coarse paddy was Rs 705 per quintal in Morang, a eastern terai
district in 1995, which rose to Rs 800 per quintal last year and plunged to Rs 605 a
quintal at the end of 2000, recording a 24.4 percent decline within a year.
The prices of medium-class paddy also decreased by 22 percent during the end
of 2000 plunging from Rs 1035 of last year to Rs 807 per quintal in December 2000.
However, there has been no significant change in the prices of fine paddy
this year, which is produced less compared to the medium and coarse paddy. The price of
fine paddy was Rs 1,325 per quintal in 1999 which decreased to Rs 1,312 per quintal in
2000. The price of fine paddy was Rs 850 a quintal in 1995.
The price of coarse paddy slipped by 25 percent in 2000 from Rs 900 per
quintal in 1999 to Rs 675 per quintal in Parsa, the central terai district, whereas the
price of such paddy had touched Rs 700 per quintal in 1995.
The price of medium paddy in this district was Rs 1,000 in 1999 which has
come down to Rs 745 per quintal at the end of 2000. Similarly, the price of fine paddy has
also gone down here. The price of fine paddy was Rs 1,200 per quintal in 1995 which went
up to Rs 1,750 in 1999 but saw a decline of 22 percent in 2000 to come back to Rs 1,350 by
the end of December 2000.
Similarly, the price of coarse paddy in Rupandehi fell by 27.6 percent in
December 2000 from Rs 880 of 1999 to Rs 637 per quintal, which was Rs 700 per quintal in
1995. But the price of medium paddy remained the same in 2000 compared to the price of
1999. However, the price of the paddy fluctuated in-between the years.
Banke district witnessed a 26 percent decline in the price of coarse paddy in
2000 bringing it down to Rs 610 which was Rs 825 per quintal in 1999. The price of the
paddy reached to Rs 700 per quintal in 1995.
In the like manner, the prices of medium paddy also recorded a plunge of 25.1
percent bringing the per quintal rate to Rs 712 in December 2000. The price of the paddy
was Rs 800 a quintal even in 1995. The price of fine paddy has gone down by 31.3 percent
in the district. The paddy maintained a steady price of Rs 1,200 per quintal from 1995 to
1999 but slipped to Rs 825 per quintal this year.
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