By Our Correspondent, Birgunj, June 14: Production of whet has increased in Parsa district this year.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre Parsa, wheat production has increased by 5,210 tonnes to 85,965 tonnes in the Parsa district this year.

Suresh Kumar Chaurasia, crop development officer at the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Parsa, said that about 85,965 tonnes of wheat have been produced in 26,500 hectares of their farm.

Use of improved varieties of seeds, availability of irrigation facilities and timely availability of fertilisers is attributed to the better yield, he said.

According to the Centre, 85 per cent of farmers in the district grow wheat in an area of 26,000 to 27,000 hectares of land. The farmers sell 50 per cent of the wheat they produce and consume the remaining, he said.

Similarly, the farmers have produced 5,776 tonnes of pulse in 3,610 hectares of land.

Although the Food Management and Trade Company Limited, Birgunj office, has set a target to purchase 3,000 quintals of wheat, it has bought only 216 quintals of wheat by now, said Bikash Katuwal, head of the office.

He said that they could not purchase wheat as per the target due to the prohibitory order enforced to prevent and control COVID-19.

The farmers sell wheat to the private flour mills at the support price fixed by the government. The government had fixed the minimum support price of wheat at Rs. 3,111 per quintal.