March 3: Twenty eight per cent of arable land has remained uncultivated in Karnali Province. 

Despite the province government’s policy to utilize barren land, a large swathe of land is lying barren and uncultivated owing to the lax implementation of the policy.

 Karnali Province faces a shortage of food every year. According to the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperative, out of the total arable land, only 72 per cent has been utilized for farming. 

Occupying 22 per cent area of the total geography of the country, seventy-four percent people rely on agriculture in Karnali Province. Home to 99,339 hectares of the arable land, the province produces 3,39,909 metric tons of the food in a year, while the province requires 3,58316 metric tons of the food  yearly. 

The Ministry’s Spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Kathayat said that the ministry had emphasized for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in the uncultivated land. 

“We have devised various plans to utilize unused and barren land. We are encouraging farmers for apple farming in mountainous districts and orange, kiwi and other fruits in hilly districts,” Kathayat said.

The province government says that it has been utilizing barren land to reduce poverty and end food shortage in the province.