DADELDHURA: Local farmers have started cultivating a new variety of maize, which is believed to give more yields, in Dadeldhura district. According to District Agriculture Office (DAO), the new variety has been introduced as it gave quadrupled production as compared to other local varieties during experiment.

According to Hikmat Kumar Shrestha, officer at DAO, cultivation of Deuti - the new type — had been started a year ago as “sample production” in Sallagaon area.

He said farmers of other VDCs have been encouraged after it gave good

yield in test production. The DAO for the first time had started to cultivate the maize in six VDCs of the district as the “model production”.

Agriculture officer Shrestha said that the farmers had also been lured by the abundant production of the new variety as the variety well adapted with the dry weather condition as well.

“We’ve taken this as a kind of cash crop,” Khadka Bohara of Sallagaon said, revealing that the corn gave a very good yield. Bohara added that the farmers had sold corns at Rs 22 per kg last year and for that reason they have increased its plantation this year.

The other new varieties of corn are Manakamana 3, Sitala, Arun 2 and Mosile 1. The office said that the model production of the maize has begun in Amargadhi Municipality and other VDCs of Belapur, Koteli, Ajayameru, Gankhet and Alital.

According to Tek Bahadur Bista, assistant technician at the office, production of new variety of the maize has been started in the district. The office has the objective to teach new methods of cultivation with the new variety of the corn, he informed.