Mustard production likely to fall in Nawalpur

By Our Correspondent,Kawasoti, Dec. 13:The production of mustard is likely to decrease in Nawalpur this year with the decline in the plantation area. At present, mustard can be seen blooming in most places in Nawalpur. It is estimated that the production will decrease as the area covered by the oilseed crops decreases in the district,  which is considered a pocket area of mustard.

After the government started promoting oilseed crops, the attraction of farmers towards mustard cultivation is increasing, but the planation area is decreasing. Kawasoti, Madhyabindu, Devchuli and Gaindakot municipal areas of the district are considered mustard pocket areas.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Nawalpur, the mustard plantation area has decreased by 24 hectares in the district this year compared to last year. The mustard has been planted in only around 1,161 hectares of land in the district this year while it was planted in 1,185 hectares last year.

Biswas Kafle, information officer at the Agricultural Knowledge Centre, Nawalpur, said that the area of mustard cultivation has decreased due to the expansion of potato cultivation. The area of potato cultivation has expanded to about 100 hectares under the community-level processing potato promotion programme in Nawalpur.

The per-hectare productivity of mustard in the district is 1.08 tonnes. Around 1,285 tonnes of mustard had been produced in the district in 2022/23, Kafle said. Farmers said that the non-availability of fertilisers in time is one of the reasons for the decline in mustard farming.  They said that the production of mustard, which has been continuously declining in the past years, would decrease further this year after the cultivation area decreased.

 However, Kul Prasad Tiwari, chief of Agricultural Knowledge Centre, Nawalpur, expressed his hope that the production of mustard would increase as the centre and the municipalities provided consultation along with improved mustard seeds.

According to him, if the problems of diseases and insects are solved, even if the area of 24 hectares is reduced, the production will be good.