The area is increasing as more marginal lands are coming under cultivation. When rice cannot be established due to drought, poor farmers resort to finger millet, especially in the inner Tarai. It covers an area of 250 thousand ha with a production of 270 thousand mt. Barley is grown on about 30 thousand ha. In the high Hills, barley is mainly rotated with potato and tartary buckwheat.
Naked barley is grown in the highlands of Nepal.
A local selection of naked barley by the name of Solu Uwa has been released for general cultivation. Oilseed crops show a modest area expansion from 156 thousand ha to 185 thousand ha in the last five years. Rapeseed mustard occupies nearly 90 percent of the total oilseed area. Other oilseeds are linseed in winter and groundnut, sesame and sunflower in the summer. They are all grown under rainfed conditions.