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Grass seeds production reduced

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NEPALGUNJ, Sep 30: The only firm in mid and far-western regions that produce grass seeds has started to reduce its production due the inadequate rate of return from the sales.[break]



Pasture and Grass Seed Production Firm in Sitapur of Banke, which produces grass seeds of varied species and distributes them through agriculture development offices in different districts, has dropped the production of seeds citing insufficient return from the sales of grass seeds.



“We have been facing financial problems from the last many years and we are also not getting good price for our products,” says Bishnu Bahadur Rawal, acting chief and technician at the firm. “On one hand we are not getting good price for grass seeds that we produce and on the other, the government authorities are showing indifference to our plight. We were left with no option but to bring down our production.”



The firm, which used to cultivate grass seeds in about 35 hectares of land, now cultivates grass seeds in just 20 hectares of land. The land procured for grass seed cultivation has remained barren and turned into a grazing spot for cattle due to inefficient management.



According to officials, seeds produced by the firm reach to almost all agriculture development offices throughout the country. The agriculture development offices return the money only after selling the seeds to farmers. Because of this fact, the firm gets payment rather late. The firm is also suffering from delay in administrative mechanism like transfer of chiefs of concerned departments among others.



Rawal also said they were yet to collect more than Rs 4 million from grass seeds sold through different agriculture development offices. Though the firm had sold grass seeds worth Rs 333,000 last year, it has yet to collect the amount.



The government spends around Rs 3 million a year as salary for 12 persons employed in the firm.


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