Birgunj (Parsa), Nov 12: Food imports via the Birgunj border point in the first three months of the current fiscal year 2083/84 BS (2026-27) fell by about 63 percent compared to the corresponding period last fiscal year.
According to the Birgunj Customs Office, 31.64 million kilograms of food grains including rice, maize, wheat, paddy, malt, buckwheat, and millet were imported between mid-July and mid-October in the current fiscal year. The corresponding period of the last fiscal recorded the imports of 87.047 million kilograms of such food essentials.
According to Krishna Prasad Mainali, the Chief Customs Administrator at the Birgunj Customs Office, 6.773 million kilograms of rice were imported during the first three months of the current fiscal year, compared to 9.401 million kilograms during the same period last year. As a result, the value of rice imports also decreased, falling from Rs 898.1 million in the previous year to Rs 700 million in the current fiscal year.
Similarly, the import of paddy products also declined significantly during the review period. The Birgunj Customs recorded imports of 39.1 million kilograms of paddy during the first quarter of the last fiscal year, compared to just 6.935 million kilograms during the same period this year. The value of paddy imports also fell from Rs 1.4628 billion to Rs 333.5 million this year.
Maize imports also recorded a sharp decline. A total of 33,612,810 kilograms of maize were imported during the first three months of the last fiscal year, while imports during the same period this year stood at just 6,736,437 kilograms. According to the Customs Office, the value of maize imports also dropped from Rs 1.8013 billion to Rs 609.8 million,
Imports of buckwheat, millet and other food grains also declined. The Customs Office said that imports of these grains totaled 2,341,655 kilograms during the first three months of the last year, compared to 1,640,555 kilograms during the corresponding period this year
