Kathmandu, Jan. 4 -- Nepali farmers gathered the second largest paddy harvest in history this fiscal year, despite a series of misfortunes ranging from a delayed monsoon, fertiliser shortage and supply of fake seeds to an armyworm invasion, officials said.

As per the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy output totalled 5.55 million tonnes, only 1.1 percent less than last year's record harvest.

The Agriculture Ministry released the figures on Friday, almost a month later than usual; and attributed the better-then-expected yield to increased productivity which stood at 3.8 tonnes per hectare.

But some experts are not convinced by the government's statistics.

"If production has increased despite all the problems repor...