SATV Nov 13: The test production of millet in Banke district has yielded a successful result.     

Considered one of the most important crops of Nepal, millet was earlier only cultivated in the hilly regions and was one of the staple food items for people there.     

The test cultivation of this nutrient-rich cereal was conducted by the networking of the Community Gene Bank at Gabar Valley in ward no 1 of Baijanath rural municipality in the district.     

The grain that is rich in calcium, protein, fiber and other essential vitamins could be grown in less fertile, dry soils of the hilly areas. The success in test production in flat plain land has amused and enthused local farmers and residents alike.     

The millet planted here last July is now ripe for harvest which has encouraged the gene bank's officials to further expand its cultivation in other districts of the Tarai region.     

Puramal Basnet, coordinator of the Community Gene Bank Network, divulged that of the nine species of millet they planted, all grew well, barring one or two.     

One and a half kattha of land was leased for test production of millet in coordination with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), according to Basnet. He shared that millet harvest could be conducted in the presence of NARC technicians very soon.     

The test production was conducted considering the tremendous potential of Gabar Valley for commercial millet production, said Krishna Chaudhary, Secretary at the Gene Bank.