Rice production in the Western province was severely affected by the drought in 2023/24 – 90 % fall from the previous year. A majority of farmers could not harvest anything including the grains usually used as seeds for the next season. Moreover, even the access to quality rice seeds in the market is fairly limited, as the rice production in 2023/24 significantly dropped not only in Western but also country-wide. Against this backdrop, Market-Oriented Rice Development Project (MOReDeP) initiated distribution of a small amount of quality rice seeds to over 1,000 farmers in the Western province.
In addition, distribution of several agricultural tools (line-markers, push-rotary-weeders, etc.) and training sessions for farmers on rice cultivation techniques were conducted at the same timing. We hope the region will recover from the perishing disaster and return to a path of the growth of their rice production soon.
