The area of mustard cultivation in Chitwan, which was on decline until recently due to land fragmentation and pressure of other crops, has started expanding lately.
Contributing to the decline were the expansion of banana farming, poultry farming, land plotting activities, among others.
However, now that the price of mustard has gone up and the demand for oil has increased, it has become easier to cultivate mustard than other crops. The farming of mustard crops has been on the rise, said the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Chitwan.
The area of mustard farming has been increasing for the last four years, said Min Bahadur Pun, Information Officer at the Centre.
According to him, farming has been expanded to an area of at least one hectare every year.
According to Madhav Poudel, information officer at the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernisation Project, Implementation Unit, Chitwan, the farmers of Chitwan have been attracted to mustard cultivation due to a lack of quality oil in the market, good price of mustard and increasing production.
According to him, the area of mustard has increased significantly this year, especially in Madi Municipality and four municipalities of East Chitwan. Some farmers have started mustard farming by ditching vegetable farming.
Most of the farmers are producing mustard for their own consumption.
According to the Centre, even the weather has helped the farming this year. But that was not the case in the past, leading to the decline in the farming.
At this time, mustard plants have blossomed due to favourable weather. In the previous years, however, the plants suffered from a variety of diseases.
According to the Centre, mustard has been planted in about 13,260 hectares of the land in the district this year.
Last year, about 12,218 tonnes of mustard was produced from 12,400 hectares in the district.
A mustard block programme is being conducted in Chitwan. Farmers are attracted to mustard cultivation as they do not get quality oil despite the high price, said Pun.
The mustard production is expected to increase this year. According to the office, about one tonnes of mustard will be produced in one hectare of land.
Source : TRN,
