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Jute in maize loss footsteps
ITHARI, JUN 19 -
Jute farmers in the Eastern Development Region are likely to suffer a big loss this year as their plants have started blossoming before the normal time, which according to farmers and researchers would decrease production significantly.
The government has projected a 20 percent increment in the production of jute, a major cash crop in the eastern region, in the eastern Tarai this year. It has estimated that the productivity will increase by 1.5 percent. However, with the plants bearing flowers when it has grown only one feet high, farmers have started fretting about the low yield that is likely this year.
Normally, jute plants bear flowers only when it grows above 7-8 ft. Farmers had sowed jute kernels imported from India and Bangladesh.
Researchers say the “abnormanl blossoming” may be attributed to bad seeds. Farmers in the region had purchased the seed from different agro centres in Biratnagar and Dubahi. The seed packets bear Indian and Bangladeshi manufacturers’ names.
Expressing distress, Chatur Lal Khan of Bhaluwa, said he was worried of losing money he invested in jute farming this year. Hari Prasai, a research officer at the Ministry of Agriculture said flowers in the plants before the normal time might be because of the bad quality of seeds.
However, no problems have surfaced in jute plants the seeds of which were provided by the government to the farmers, he said. While farmers had purchased the seeds at Rs 280 per kg, about five kg of seeds have been sowed in a hectare of land. Jute productivity in Sunsari is usually two-and-a-half tons per hectare.
Khan said farmers of Morang, Jhapa, Saptari and Siraha might be suffering from a similar problem.
He said an aimmediate investigation needs to be done by the Jute
Research Centre. Prasai said temperature could have also played a role in the jute problem. Farmers of those areas have already suffered from a bad maize harvest when their production went down substantially due to bad quality of seeds.
Posted on: 2010-06-20 08:48
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