December 8: Farmers of Nawalparasi are attracted towards mustard farming due to the high price it fetches. As the price of mustard has increased in the last few years, the number of  farmers has also increased to benefit from the production and sale of this crop.

Mustard can be seen blooming across this district, which is considered to be a pocket area of mustard. Compared to other crops, farmers are attracted towards the cultivation of mustard because they can produce their own oil instead of using the oil bought from the market.

The area between Gaidakot Municipality of Nawalparasi (East of Bardghat Susta) to Vinayi Triveni Rural Municipality is considered as a pocket area for mustard farming.

Sita Gautam of Devchuli Municipality, who has been growing mustard seeds for years, said that she grows mustard seeds so that she can sell the produce in the market and consume the excess amount throughout the year. She also added that the demand for mustard has increased in the villages for the past two to three years and that the crop has improved after using chicken manure.

Kawasoti, Badhyavindu, Devchuli and Gaidakot municipalities of the district are considered to be the pocket areas for mustard farming. While farmers are being attracted towards mustard farming, the challenges and problems still persist. Farmers say that their main problem is unavailability of fertilizer on time.

Kalpana Bhandari, a farmer, said, “Nowadays, there is no need for us to look for a market to sell mustard, it can be sold from home easily. But the shortage of fertilizer at the time of plating is problematic.”

Shankar Paudel, information officer of the district-based Agriculture Knowledge Center said that mustard is cultivated in 2,335 hectares of land in Nawalparasi. It is easy to grow mustard because the weather is conducive.

In recent years, farmers have started getting good prices for mustard. At present, the price of mustard is up to Rs 11,000 per quintal in the village. Mustard gets ripe in 80 to 90 days after sowing. Farmers are attracted to mustard farming because of the quality of self-produced mustard oil and the fact that the wastage can also be used as fertilizer.