सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Tanahun. Myagde Rural Municipality-3, Gunjar Umachowk, Devghat Rural Municipality-2 and Ward No. 3 are considered as pocket areas for orange farming. Gunjar Umachowk used to produce plenty of oranges a few years ago, but recently the production has decreased, said Nire BK, an orange farmer from Gunjar.
He said, ‘Until two/three years ago, there was abundant orange production here, and the income was also considerable. What has happened now, the fruit does not bear fruit, various diseases have appeared in the orange trees.’ He mentioned that farmers like us, whose source of income is this, have been affected.
‘Earlier, it used to rain from the sky, but now it does not rain even when the oranges are blooming,’ said BK. ‘Around 150 orange trees have been affected by the disease, and they do not bear fruit. What happened? We are inquiring with the technicians of the Agricultural Knowledge Center.’ He informed that he received an answer from the technician that there is no solution to this.
BK has the experience that in the past, oranges from one tree would be one crate, but now it is difficult to even reach one kilo. Recalling that he had a plentiful production until last year, he said that the production has been decreasing due to the lack of fruit this year. Stating that he earned Rs 250,000 last year, he mentioned that this year he will not get even half of that.
Farmer Ram Bahadur Adhikari said, “It has stopped raining when the oranges are blooming. It seems that the weather has changed these days. Due to lack of water, orange production has started to decrease.” He said that the lack of rain during the flowering period has led to a decrease in production due to lack of water for irrigation.
“There are not enough water sources for irrigation here. The villagers are forced to drink water from the only well and to water their livestock,” said the Adhikari. “There is no other source except that one, there is a shortage of water for irrigation.” He said that although they have to rely on rainwater, the timing of the rain has changed these days. .
The Agricultural Knowledge Center Tanahun has stated that technology can be used to artificially pollinate oranges during flowering to increase production. Kiran Pariyar, the center’s information officer, said that natural pollination is best for pollination of oranges, and that artificial pollination technology has not been used in Nepal.
He said, “Naturally occurring products are considered organic and suitable for consumption. Such artificial technologies are used less or not at all in agricultural countries. Farmers are suffering due to changes in nature.”
Information officer Pariyar said that climate change is affecting developing countries more than developed countries. He said, “Farmers are not aware that such changes are taking place due to the effects of climate change. Climate change is directly affecting crops.” He said that farmers often complain about problems with oranges, and it is difficult to explain the effects of climate change, he said.
Pariyar said that the center does not have the information on various diseases and treatments for oranges caused by infections. The center has stated that it is generally introducing infection reduction measures and teaching farmers, and suggesting to give more priority to irrigation.
Gopal Sharma Lamichhane, head of the District Agricultural Knowledge Center, informed that in the past, orange production was good at altitudes of six to eight hundred meters. “Now the temperature is gradually increasing, orange production has decreased in areas below nine hundred meters,” he said. “Cold weather is necessary for orange production. Earlier, the weather was suitable, now the temperature here is increasing, which has reduced production. In some places, production has stopped.” Chief Lamichhane informed that orange production has been found to be good in areas above nine hundred meters in altitude. Orange cultivation in Gunjar is done at an altitude of seven to eight meters, he said that since the area above those areas is about nine hundred meters in Umachowk, there will be abundant production here.
According to him, orange cultivation is taking place abundantly in Myagde Rural Municipality-2 Umachowk, Devghat Rural Municipality-2, and Ward No. 3, which are above nine hundred meters in altitude. Similarly, he mentioned that the areas of Rishing Rural Municipality, Ghiring, Bhimad Municipality, Shuklagandaki Municipality, and Byas Municipality are considered suitable for orange production.
According to Lamichhane, head of the center, a study by the Agricultural Knowledge Center has shown that oranges from this area are tasty and juicy because they are produced at a higher altitude in the Devghat area.
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