By Binu Shrestha

Kathmandu, Oct. 21: Production and sale of pure mustard oil is what has made a sleepy village of Lalitpur, Khokana, famous in the Kathmandu Valley and outside it.
However, the traditional business has now limited to a few members of the village with the changing pattern in oil producing and selling and discontinuation of the business by the new generation of people in the village.
Khokana, located at the southern outskirt of the Kathmandu Valley, is a famous village for mustard oil and beaten rice. Demand of oil used to be high during Tihar as people need oil to prepare Selroti while beaten rice during Dashain.
Bhim Lal Maharjan, 66, who used to roam the village households selling mustard oil before the 2015 earthquake has quit the business due to his old age.
Despite limited number of oil producers and sellers, the business of oil selling is still a major business of this village.
Earlier, oil sellers used to visit several places in the valley to sell oil. They would also collect mustard seeds and in return would give oil to the customers.
The oil traders used to have their own regular customers. They used to go around the separate parts of Sankhu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kulekhani, Tekar, Sisneri, Kirtiput, Panga, Pharping to sell the oil and collect seeds.
Over the years, the area of mustard farms in this particular village diminished due to rapid urbanisation and people getting attracted to vegetable business in place of mustard seeds farming.
The demand of mustard oil was very low as compared to previous time, said Chir Kaji Maharjan, a 61-year old oil trader.
The condition of traditional oil producing factories of Khokana is worse. Four oil factories were built in the 16th century through the equal participation of each household of the village. Of the four such oil mills, two are still in operation while as many have been shut down.
Around 36 years ago, all four mills were operating here. But after the arrival of new technology and machines in 1986, several old oil mills were shut down.
Kanchha Maharjan, operator of oil mill of Gaabu Jyasa, said that his business would suffer losses if only the old factories were in operation.
The old factories need to be operated through manual labour which incurs more cost than the electricity bills. It is profitable to operate mills through the help of electricity, he said.
Despite the decreasing trend of mustard seeds farming, the town is still able to maintain its identity by producing pure mustard oil.
The two mills, Sikali Multipurpose Co-operative Oil Mill and Gaabu Jyasa Mill are still in operation.
Sikali Mill requires about 10,000 kg of mustard seeds every month to achieve its full operation, said Laxman Maharjan, an employee of the mill. As the locally produced seeds are inadequate, the mill owner brings the mustard seeds from the Terai, mostly from Chitwan and Bardia districts, he added.
They also import mustard seeds from India. In recent years, the mill has been importing the mustard seeds from Ukraine, Australia, Canada and Denmark.
However, Maharjan said that the oil produced from the imported seeds and those brought from the Terai cannot be at par the oil produced from the locally grown seeds.
Maharjan said that they were still operating traditional oil machines made of wood. “It is especially useful during load-shedding hours. These traditional seed pressing machines are one the attractions for the tourists, including the domestic ones,” he said.
The locals of Khokana with other areas have stopped growing mustard seeds over the years. As a result, people could not enjoy the attractive sights of lush yellow mustard fields in Khokana these days.