Full of food and vegetables in Karnali!

It is difficult to get locally produced onions for less than 100 rupees. But the Nepalese said that they are using Indian onion for 80 rupees. His neighbor Ambika Nepali is also self-sufficient in vegetable production. But he also likes some Indian vegetables. 'Surkhani is not produced in the village,' she said, 'Even in such remote villages, the supply of Surkhani comes from Rupaidiha.' Even if some results are produced at the local level, it does not meet the market demand. Local businessman Bal Bahadur Shahi said that fruits such as grapes, oranges, lemons, and pomegranates come from India, while apples depend on China. "In Humla and Dolpa, we have to send Indian vegetables by ship," he said, "The vegetables produced here are only seasonal, and that too, when the price is high, Indian vegetables are preferred by the consumers."

Indian vegetables are sent to Humla and Dolpa from Nepalgunj and Surkhet by paying air fare of Rs 125 per kg. Anita Rokaya of Simkot in Humla said that the price of vegetables coming from India has not decreased by Rs 300 per kg. "The production here will only reach 2 months of dry season," she said. Karnali Province Directorate of Agricultural Development has reported that vegetables worth Rs. In the six months of this year, nearly 1 billion worth of rice and pulses have entered Karnali from India alone, while only 70 million worth of food has gone out. Another businessman, Anil Budha, said that vegetables are imported from Chitwan, Nepalgunj, Dang, Butbal and other places with great results.

'But due to the lack of pesticide testing in Karnali, consumers are forced to consume pesticide-laden vegetables in organic Karnali,' Budha said, 'If there were pesticide testing, the people of Karnali would at least be able to eat healthy vegetables.' Although the funds have been allocated annually since the financial year 076/77 for the establishment of a testing laboratory, it has been frozen every year. About 7 crore rupees have been frozen for the laboratory so far in different years.

When potatoes worth 99.9 million rupees came to Karnali, only potatoes worth 2.8 million 24 thousand went out, the directorate said. Tilak Prasad Pandey, information officer of the directorate said, 'The result of potato imports shows how much dependence there is here,' said the directorate's information officer Tilak Prasad Pandey, 'annual production is also increasing in Karnali, but there is a problem due to lack of production according to the population.' In a period of 6 months, Indian fruits worth 355.8 million rupees have been imported to Karnali. . He informed that 97.4 million worth of fruits were exported from Karnali during this period. According to Chitra Bahadur Rokaye, Acting Director of the Directorate, more than 10,000 tons of agricultural products were imported in Karnali in the 6 months of the current financial year. About 50 percent of Karnali's food, fruit and vegetable market is dependent on India and 30 percent on other states. He informed that only 20 percent of the demand is met by his products in Karnali.

According to the National Census-078, there is a shortage of 25 thousand metric tons of food grains annually in Karnali, which has a population of 1.689 thousand 412. In Karnali province, 3 lakh 52 tons of food grains are required and 3 lakh 26 thousand tons are produced. Salyan stores the most 13 thousand 900 tons, while Rukum West saves 4 thousand 100, while Surkhet and Dailekh produce food to meet the needs.

There are about 299 thousand 339 hectares of arable land across the province. Only 73 percent of the arable land is used for agriculture. Keshav Sharma, an agriculturist, said that Karnali could not become self-sufficient due to the lack of irrigation facilities even in all the cultivated lands. Only about 31 percent of the total cultivated land has adequate irrigation facilities. In Karnali, only 38 thousand 33 hectares of land have irrigation facility throughout the year. "If all arable land is produced, Karnali can become self-sufficient in food and vegetables," he said. Announced the creation of an organic province. Almost two years after that, the second meeting of Karnali Province Coordinating Council on 9th January 2076 also decided to make Karnali Province organic within two years. For the implementation of the said declaration and decision, the Bill-075 was also passed in the first term of the Provincial Assembly to make provisions related to agriculture. But due to lack of preparation, lack of staff, prioritization of piecemeal budget, lack of investment-friendly environment, lack of alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the campaign was stalled, said Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Bhim Prakash Sharma.

According to Sharma, about 5 billion rupees are being spent in the agricultural sector every year to make Karnali self-reliant through the production-oriented program.