Kathmandu, June 29: Today is Asar 15, popularly known as the day for eating curd and bitten rice. Also, the day is observed as the national paddy day encouraging farmers for paddy farming. Although the government observes National Paddy Farming Day with big fanfare, the country relies on imports of paddy from abroad due to the lack of modern equipment, fertilizer irrigation and other facilities for the farmers.   [caption id="attachment_59297" align="alignnone" width="985"] Farmers planting paddy in a field on the eve of National Paddy Day, in Bungmati, Lalitpur, on Monday. Since 2005, National Paddy Day is observed on Asar 15, which officially marks the beginning of the paddy plantation season in the country.
People’s News Monitoring Service.[/caption]