Palpa. This year, 210 metric tons of potatoes have been stored in the Rampur cold storage. The seeds and ware potatoes produced by farmers are safely stored under the management of Rampur Municipality.
The municipality had issued a notice and opened the cold storage for potato storage since last Chaitra 18. It was closed on the 21st after the storage room was full. Earlier, the cold storage was operated by bidding to entrepreneurs in the first year and by signing an agreement with Suryodaya Agricultural Cooperative in the second and third years. Currently, the municipality itself is managing the cold storage.
Narayan Prasad Gaire, head of the agriculture branch of the municipality, informed that 210 metric tons of potatoes have been stored in the cold storage here by 682 farmers and agricultural cooperatives and groups. He said that 170 metric tons of potatoes were stored last year.
Potatoes brought from some farmers of Chapakot Municipality of Syangja, along with the local municipality, are also stored here. Mayor Raman Bahadur Thapa said that farmers have increased their production after the cold storage facility was provided. He said that since there is a high potato production in this area, the municipality constructed and used the cold storage and the farmers have benefited greatly from it.
This year, seven to eight quintals of potatoes have been produced per plantation in the Rampur area. The municipality has stated that the potatoes were stored by charging a storage fee of Rs. 6 per kilogram from the farmers. A cold storage with a capacity of 300 metric tons was constructed by the Lumbini Province Government at a cost of Rs. 32.676 million and was put into operation from BS 2078. Although there were some problems due to technical problems during the first year of testing, the potatoes stored in the second and third years after renovation were good, said Agriculture Branch Chief Gaire.
The municipality has appointed a daily supervisor to monitor the cold storage, monitor the temperature, and inspect the equipment. The storage center has five rooms of different capacities. Currently, all five rooms are filled with potatoes. The municipality has stated that electricity charges of 50 to 60 thousand per month are charged for its operation. Before the cold storage was operational, farmers here were storing potatoes in places like Bhairahawa, Galyang, and Pokhara.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्