सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Myagdi. Farmer Padam Bahadur Khatri of Beni Municipality-3 has earned Rs 2 million from orange farming this year. Khatri, who retired from the Indian Gurkha army and started orange farming 21 years ago, has 300 trees in his garden producing produce. Another 500 trees that are growing will produce in a few years.
‘Last year, oranges worth Rs 1.3 million were sold,’ he said. ‘This year, oranges worth Rs 2 million have been sold because of increased production.’ Khatri said that he sold oranges from his garden to traders in Pokhara at a rate of Rs 75 per kilo. Khatri is one of the people who earn the most from orange farming in the district. Farmers in Marek, including Khatri, have earned 15 million rupees by selling oranges this year.
20 out of 21 households in Marek are engaged in orange farming. Each household has sold a minimum of 100,000 oranges. ‘Last year, oranges worth 8 million rupees were sold in Marek, and this year’s production has doubled,’ he said. ‘The increase in orange production is due to the addition of fruit-bearing plants, expansion of area, reduction in the problem of seed falling, garden management and favorable weather.’
After the oranges were picked in the first week of Magh, farmers are busy managing the gardens. The residents of Marek, located on a steep slope facing northeast, used to cultivate traditional food crops until two decades ago. The food crops grown with painstaking efforts throughout the year were not enough for even six months. Those who were unemployed used to go abroad and to the city market for work and income.
Now, the outskirts of Marek are full of orange gardens. Indra Bahadur Thapa, who grows 18 muri rice per year, said that he would earn up to Rs 1 million annually from orange farming on 14 ropanis. Krishna Bahadur Gharti, 49, of Marek, who returned after working in Qatar for three years, earned Rs 600,000 this year by selling oranges.
‘After growing oranges, I don’t have to go abroad to run my household,’ he said. ‘It has brought a change in my standard of living.’ Trader Rajan Tamang said that oranges from Marek are easily sold in the market because they are juicier and tastier than those from other places. He said that oranges from here are consumed in the markets of Pokhara, Kathmandu, and Hetauda.
The Agricultural Knowledge Center, Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernization Project, and the Agriculture Branch of Beni Municipality have been supporting the expansion of orange cultivation in Marek. Sanjeev Bastola, head of the Agricultural Knowledge Center, said that farmers are being supported through the distribution of new seedlings, garden management, and small irrigation programs under grants.
Padam Pun, ward chairman of Beni Municipality-3, said that Marek, Rakhu, Hallegouda, and Paniswanra of the former Bhakimli VDC have been developed as orange pocket areas. He said that coordination and initiatives have been taken with federal and provincial government bodies for upgrading roads for orange marketing, facilitating transportation, and providing irrigation and technological support.
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