Agricultural Knowledge Center Kailali said that due to the lack of market for produced sugarcane, the attractiveness of farmers is decreasing. Farmers say that the provincial government has not provided any subsidy program to the farmers involved in sugarcane cultivation in the district.
Farmers who have been cultivating sugarcane in the past have gradually started cultivating other crops. According to Gyan Kendra, the area of sugarcane cultivation in the district, which expanded to 700 hectares 25 years ago, has decreased to 225 hectares.
Information officer of the center Shyam Joshi informed that in the year 2078/79 sugarcane was cultivated in 224 hectares, the production was 8 thousand 377 metric tons, in the year 2079/80, 9 thousand 450 metric tons were produced in 224 hectares.
According to information officer Joshi, the attractiveness of farmers will increase if agricultural implements, equipment, seeds and other subsidy programs are provided to sugarcane farmers.
Ganesh Shahi, a sugarcane farmer of Ghodaghodi Municipality-4, said that in order to promote sugarcane cultivation, knowledge and skills should be provided to the farmers along with the subsidy money, about the methods of cultivation, necessary tools, seeds of advanced varieties and application methods. He said that due to the lack of market in sugarcane farming, the number of farmers is decreasing as the farmers are unable to get income according to the cost.
In 2054, the number of sugarcane farmers in the district increased after Wasuling Sugar Mill came into operation in Chuha. With the closure of that mill, the farmers here gradually stopped cultivating sugarcane.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Sudurpaschim Province for the year 2079/80, sugarcane has been cultivated in an area of 6,197 hectares, and 359,321 metric tons have been produced.
According to statistics, 3 lakh 43 thousand 125 metric tons have been produced out of which 5 thousand 625 hectares are being cultivated in Kanchanpur. After Kanchanpur and Kailali, Baitadi produced 4,190 metric tons in 260 hectares. Various subsidy programs are being conducted for the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in Kanchanpur.
