Farmers of Sarlahi are stunned to get a good price of yam at the main time of production.
Farmers of the district are stunned to get a good price of yam as Maghe Sankranti approaches. As the sales of yams skyrocketed during the Maghe Sankranti and the prices started getting better, the attraction of the farmers towards yam farming is increasing. Farmers of Bagmati and Barhathana municipalities of the district have been urged to dig out the yam used as fruit on the day of Maghe Sankranti. Bagrelti can be seen digging yams all over the fields in those areas.
Farmers are stunned that the price of yam has doubled compared to last year. Yam, which was sold at Rs 35-40 per kg last year, is being sold at Rs 50-80 per kg this year. Yam Kumar Magar, a farmer of Bagmati Municipality-5, Rajghat, who has been cultivating yams commercially for a long time, said, “We have got very good prices this year. More traders are coming to buy yams than in other years. If we get the price in this way, the farmers will get good benefits according to the cost and labor. ”
According to him, the contractors have reached the farm to get the yam produced by the farmers as the Maghe Sankranti is approaching. Farmer Jag Bahadur Mahato of Bagmati Municipality-8 Shankarpur says that he has cultivated yam on 10 acres of land this year and he is happy after getting good price for yam. He said that traders used to take yams from the fields at Rs. 25,000 per bushel. Farmers say that they earn Rs. 18,000 to Rs. According to the farmer, yam, which is used as a special fruit in Maghe Sankranti, is also used as a vegetable at other times.
Mahato himself has been digging yams planted in April for three days. "If the traders pay a fair price, I will sell it here, otherwise I will take it to Kathmandu by truck," he said.
He said that the price of yam is higher depending on the quality of the yam. Traders have been transporting Sarlahi yams to major cities of the country including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dhangadhi, Birgunj, and Itahari. Yams sown from Phagun to Jeth are dug from Pus to Phagun.
Farmers say that they have to invest Rs. 7,000 to Rs. Farmers are expected to earn Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,000 per yam this season. Kamal Dev Prasad Kushwaha, head of the office of Agriculture Knowledge Center Malangwa Sarlahi, said that 8 to 10 quintals of yam would be produced per yam when there is good production.
According to him, jute leaves and red yam are being cultivated in the area. According to Agriculture Knowledge Center Malangwa Sarlahi, yam has been cultivated in an area of 285 hectares in the district alone this year. According to the office, about 500 tonnes of yams are produced in the district every year.
Farmers were worried that yam production would decline due to heavy rains this year. But the farmers have said that they will not incur any loss even if they get the low price even if the production is low.
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