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11th National Rice day Celebration |
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11th National Rice Day was celebrated onAsar 15 as of Nepalese date or 29th June) all over Nepal with the theme of "Modernization in Rice Production, decreasing food import to make country self-sufficient". In the regional level, Youth Eco Network (YEN) also celebrated national rice day with financial assistance of Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Bijayanagar, Chitwan with agricultural students, agricultural authorities and farmers. Importance of National rice day Rice is the main cereal crop of Nepal with most of the people depending on it as a staple food. However, rice is not just important as food but it carries cultural, religious and traditional values in Nepalese society. It is used as tika (mixture of rice grains and curd put on forehand for blessings), sacred homage item, worshipping item, Prasad (eaten after worship) and also item for daan ( gift to pujaris/priests and saints). National rice day symbolizes all these values and also the fact that today is the most feasible day for transplanting rice. An overview of the program National Rice day was celebrated in different sessions. 1. Formal program with Cultural folk song Formal program kicked off at around 7:30 in the morning. Important agricultural personnels including Plant Protection Officer joined us for the program. In the meantime, local women from Bijayanagar entertained us with Asare song. An Asare song is a native folk song of Nepal which is sung during rice plantation. It carries joy of life, laments on less rainfall, call for the loved ones etc.
2. Mass quiz contest Mass quiz contest was conducted for the farmers. Questions related to agriculture and day to day life was asked and prize was distributed. 3.Mud Race Rice needs stagnant water for transplantation. The water thus creates mud with soil in contact. The field is prepared 15 to 20 days before transplanting. We used this muddy field for racing competition. Many local farmers and students joined the race. 4.Tug of war In this game, a rope is held by both the opponent teams. Both teams try to pull the opponent team inside their boundary and the team which does this is the winner. This was a lot of fun to see.
5. Dahi (Curd) and Chiura (Beaten rice) Eating program The day of today is celebrated by eating dahi and chiura. This has been a tradition for years. 6. Prize distribution The prizes to the winners of mud race and tug of war were distributed. 7. Interaction program Finally the problems of farmers were presented and their solutions sought out.
I hope you found it interesting. I still hope each year that we get to celebrate this day with less dismay from the farmer?s side and higher productivity and prosperity. The enthusiasm we created today might help the passion to carry on agriculture on the part of the farmers but then, in long run, easy access to seeds, agricultural subsidies, loans and crop insurance are the only way. Do you celebrate rice day in your parts of the world? |
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11 Comments
wow I know it is a very splendid celebration
Posted 05-07-2014 18:14
yes, I have also great time with our local farmers, Thanks for sharing here our rice day celebration that obviously helps in solving the food security problems.
Posted 04-07-2014 02:30
Thank you for going through :)
Posted 04-07-2014 01:34
As Nepal is just few kilometers far from my city so i have a good knowledge about Nepali culture. We have lots of same cultural practices. even Nepali and Kumauni languages are bit same. That's really amazing. I have learned about Nepal a lot through your and other ambassador reports.
Posted 04-07-2014 00:59
Appreciative programs and Awesome sharing Smriti didi... really this day has a great significance in the farmers life and an agriculturist..
Posted 03-07-2014 21:40
thank you smriti for reminiscences of early days in Nepal
Posted 03-07-2014 16:14
Thank you Smriti di for sharing the memorable and important moment of agriculturist as well as local farmers. It was really a nice moment for the agricultural student like us to interact with the local farmers.
Posted 03-07-2014 00:35
We don't celebrate Rice day here in UAE . Glad to know that Nepal does & thanks for such interesting report of the event. I have learnt from my grandparents in India that Rice does hold cultural and traditional values there too -just like the way you mentioned i.e. Prasad , tika and daan. In India when newly married girl enters her husband's house for the first time , she is supposed to kick with her foot the plate full of rice which symbolises that she is bringing prosperity into the house . Rice symbolises prosperity.
I liked the way with plethora of activities it was celebrated.Thanks Smriti for reporting it so vividly.
Posted 02-07-2014 18:20
An excellent article - very well written too ! YEN is doing great work :)
Food security - as Christy said - is definitely one of the most pressing issues, especially in Asia.
Posted 02-07-2014 17:42
Wow. Great activity Smriti in chitwan. In Kathmandu the monsoon seems very harsh this year. As due to dependence upon rain water and no proper irrigation facility the Ashar 15 National rice day celebration was not so effective within the valley in some areas.But from Ashar 16 it felt like now the monsoon started.
My perception of the festival is that it is motivating the farmers and due to different activities like quiz contest, mud race, tug of war, Beaten rice and curd (Typical Nepali cousin) the participation of youth,children and tourist can be observed. So that it could be a platform for local culture and food practice conservation, promoted and aware necessity of better cultivation for food secutiry.
Posted 02-07-2014 16:10
Wow, you did a great work! Thank you so much for sharing it vividly.
I've learned about Nepal a lot through you :)
As mentioned above, Food Security is really important for a nation's independence.
Posted 02-07-2014 14:01