By Our Correspondent
Dhalkebar, Jan. 12: The sale of sesame, jaggery and beaten and puffed rice has increased in the Terai districts as Tila Sankraint is around the corner.
The locals there celebrate Maghe Sankraint marked on Magh 1 of Nepali Calendar annually as Tila Sankraint. During the festival, the locals eat sweets made from sesame, beaten rice, puffed rice and coconut, among others, by mixing jiggery with them.

Farmers’ markets across Terai, including Dhanusha, have started seeing soaring sale of the sweet items. Several markets in the district -- Sakhuwabazaar, Dhalkebar, Birendrabazaar, Sabaila and Janakpur -- are seeing brisk sale of the sweet items.

Sakhuwabazaar, the country’s biggest farmers’ market, used to have three or four shops selling beaten and puffed rice but now, over two dozen such shops can be seen.
The shop owners informed that the price of beaten rice (Rs. 55 per kg) and puffed rice (Rs. 80 per kg) was similar to that of earlier year.
However, the price of sesame has dropped.

“Sesame cost Rs. 300 per kg in the previous years, but now costs Rs. 200-220 per kg,” said Ram Babu Sah, a local marketeer.
Meanwhile, the price of jaggery has increased. Locals informed that jaggery is selling at Rs. 90 per kg, up from Rs. 60-70 per kg the year before.
To keep up with the growing demand, factories producing the items have been increasing their production.

“In recent days, we have been producing 6,000 kg of beaten rice and 7,000 kg of puffed rice, up from 4,000 kg and 5,000 kg respectively before,” said Sagar Sah, owner of Rajdevi Beaten Rice Factory in Ward No. 2, Mithila Municipality.
The workers in the factory are also working around 17-18 hours daily, which was 8-10 hours before, he added.

Around half a dozen such factories operating across the district were running at full capacity to meet the consumers’ demand.
Yam, sweet potato and colocassia fruit are other items being sought by the market visitors.