9,000 households in 10 municipalities are engaged in commercial orange farming, while farmers have created orange orchards in fields that grow rice, mustard, millet and corn.
Faninarayan Aryal, the owner of Triputra Horticulture Firm in Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality-1, is struggling to send oranges to Kathmandu. Coffee is drying all over Aryal's yard. Oranges are strewn all over the house. Some are busy picking oranges and bringing them to the market. Faninarayan, his wife Durga, and younger son Sagar Babu are busy grading the oranges and putting them in cartons and crates. Faninarayan sends them to Bhatbhateni Supermarket in Kathmandu.
‘I started orange farming in 2037 BS, and started coffee in 2056 BS,’ said Faninarayan, ‘I have planted oranges in an area of 80 ropanis, and I sell oranges from my own garden alone for more than 6 million rupees annually.’ He says that he also buys oranges from nearby farmers and sends them to Bhatbhateni. He also sends oranges to the vegetable and fruit markets in Kalimati and Balkhu. Now he has also kept an orange grading machine at home.
‘Some time ago, I went to Australia to study oranges, stayed for a month and a half, and saw a grading machine there,’ he says, ‘I also wanted to have a machine and came to Nepal and bought it. After having the machine, it has become very easy.’ He is selling ‘A’ grade oranges for 117 rupees per kilo. ‘B’ grade oranges for 70 rupees and ‘C’ grade oranges for 25 rupees per kilo. ‘Last year, I sold 60 million rupees worth of oranges from my own garden, and I have been selling oranges worth 40 million rupees every year, including the ones collected from all over,’ said Faninarayan.
He said that he has sold oranges worth about 35 million rupees till December 25 this year. ‘It is estimated that more than 40 million rupees will be sold,’ he said, ‘There is also a cold store to store oranges, for which I received a 50 percent subsidy from the Gandaki Province government.’ He said that he produced 28 tons of coffee last year. He said that the peeled coffee was sold for 800 rupees per kilogram.
Faninarayan’s orange garden directly employs 60 people during the season. ‘There are five people in the beginning, this time I sold the early variety oranges on 3 Kartik, this process continues until Magh,’ he said. ‘I educated my 8 children with this income, got them married, bought 25 ropanis of additional land and expanded my orange cultivation,’ he said, ‘I made an orange garden by crushing the rice in the tari field.’ He said that his elder son Dipendra did his PhD in agriculture in Australia and his younger son Badri is doing his MD in the US. Faninarayan also said that volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) taught him how to plant oranges and how to keep them healthy for a long time.
Another farmer who earns a good income by selling orange seeds, seeds and coffee is Bodhraj Aryal, 50, of Mayatari, Putlibazar Municipality-11. He has planted 1,500 orange trees in an area of 20 ropanis. "Oranges alone are sold for Rs. 1.5 million annually. It has been three decades since we started cultivating them. Businessmen come to buy oranges from our homes," he said. "Our oranges are exported to Kathmandu, Pokhara, Butwal and Narayangadh." He said that his family of four is supported by this. He also said that he returned after spending 10 months in Japan through JICA and receiving training in vegetable farming.
According to Bodhraj, he earns about Rs. 2.5 to 3 million annually from selling orange seedlings. "I send the seedlings to Kaski, Lamjung, Parbat and Baglung," he said. Bodhraj has run five 'hi-tech' orange nurseries. Currently, there are 40,000 seedlings ready for sale. Bodhraj has rented 20 ropanis of land and cultivated coffee. According to him, coffee is exported to Japan. ‘But there is a problem with cold stores to store oranges,’ he said, ‘They have been built in some places, but they are not suitable for storing oranges.’ Prakash Tiwari, the chairman of Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality, said that orange seedlings and other necessary fertilizers are provided to those who want to cultivate them at a 50 percent subsidy.
‘We have made a plan to expand orange cultivation to an area of 40/50 ropanis every year within the rural municipality, and the expansion has been done accordingly,’ Prakash said, ‘We are creating an environment for those returning from abroad to live in the village and make it easier for them to earn a living, so that they can earn an annual income of three to four lakh rupees from oranges. So that they do not have to leave the village in search of a source of income.’ He said that farmers are being helped to expand orange cultivation for that purpose.
Pratibha Budhathoki, Information Officer of the National Agricultural Modernization Program, Program Implementation Unit, Syangja, said that orange zones were implemented in some wards of four municipalities in 2073/74. ‘It was converted into a super zone in 2075/76 BS,’ she said, ‘In 2077/78 BS, the orange super zone was implemented in the potential areas of the district.’ She said that when the super zone is implemented, 50 percent subsidy will be provided for irrigation, plants and the necessary tools, medicines, etc.
Narayan Prasad Pathak, agricultural economist and information officer at the Agricultural Development Office, Syangja, said that 2,400 hectares of orange production area is under cultivation. 1,420 hectares are production-oriented and new orange trees are growing in 980 hectares. He said that 9,500 households are involved in orange farming.
‘In the last fiscal year, oranges worth 1.2 billion rupees were sold from all over Syangja,’ Narayan said, ‘This year, it is estimated that 1.32 billion rupees will be sold.’ He said that the expansion of orange gardens in the district is increasing. According to the Agricultural Development Office Syangja, commercial orange cultivation is carried out in wards 1, 2, 3 and 6 of Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality, 2 and 4 of Andhikhola Rural Municipality, and 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 of Galyang Municipality. Similarly, wards 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14 of Putalibazaar Municipality, 6 of Chapakot Municipality, 1, 2 and 4 of Fedikhola Rural Municipality, 3 and 8 of Biruwa Rural Municipality, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 6 of Bhirkot Municipality, and 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 14 of Waling Municipality are orange pocket areas.
Commercial orange cultivation is carried out in wards 1, 2, 7 of Biruwa and 3 and 6 of Harinash Rural Municipality. ‘Orange farming is gaining popularity in the district, the market is also good, after the oranges ripen, traders visit the orchards,’ he said, ‘There is no problem with the market, the fields that were previously used for corn, millet, wheat and mustard are now filled with orange trees.’ He said that the office has a program to strengthen orange orchards. ‘After the fruits are harvested, pruning and pest control are done,’ Narayan said, ‘For this, the office has signed an agreement with 90 farmer groups, and we have worked on improving the orchards, irrigation and pest control.’
Narayan says that the Agricultural Development Office is now supporting the orchards to protect them. In the current fiscal year, the office has allocated a budget of Rs. 4.5 million for agricultural strengthening. "The money will be available to those who come from individual registered firms or groups," he said, "50 percent of this has to be borne by the office and 50 percent by the farmers themselves." He complains that there is a problem with the cold store that preserves oranges for a long time.
