Last year 1.745 million tons of wheat was produced in the country and the total wheat cultivated land was 764,000 hectares according to statistics of the NWRP.[break]
"Good soil quality while sowing wheat seeds and winter rainfall will help boost production this year," said Janma Jaya Tripathi, chief of the NWRP, Bhairawa office. He said timely rainfall was the determining factor for the production of wheat since most cultivated land lacked irrigation facility.
"The western hot wind dries the wheat plant and deprives nutrition from the ear of the wheat," Tripathi said adding there was was no such weather condition this year.
He however, said projection for hill areas was not as good as those for Terai. "The wheat crop in the hill region has been infected by a sort of disease, but is not on a large scale" Tripathi said.
Tripathi said the production of wheat has been constantly rising in the country in recent times. “There was a rise in production of wheat last year as well by 15 percent compared to the previous year,” Tripathi told Republica on Wednesday. “The continuous rise in the production of wheat since the last two years has made farmers excited.”
Tripathi further said wheat seeds of Nepal was known in South Asia region for its high quality. “Nepal is independent for the seeds of wheat,” Tripathi said, “More than that, Indian farmers from border areas also come to buy wheat seeds in Nepal.”
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