Dolakha Lattermm Kiwi, Market Uncertain

In his firm there are Kiwis of Green i.e. Hayward and Allison breeds . It's time to pick kiwis, but Thapa, who has been looking for the market for two months, has not found meso.

He estimates that at least 4 metric tons of kiwi will be produced this year from the plants grown in his firm. But since there is no market, he is confused . Some farmers have already started picking Kiwis to meet their Dasain expenses . He said that more problems are caused when kiwis are harvested and taken to the market without ripening.

'Hayward and Allison kiwis should be picked in November and May, but farmers have started picking kiwis of these varieties before they are ripe to meet the festival expenses,' he said, 'The price of kiwis in the market has fallen every year, so immature kiwis put the market in more trouble. has fallen.'

Kiwi farmers are increasing throughout the district. But Thapa says that the market is shrinking every year. "Initially, I started this farming because of good income from kiwi," he says, "but every year the market of kiwi is decreasing, There is a price for manlagandi kiwi in the market too . When looking for a good price, kiwis are not sold and wasted.'

Very few farmers in the district are wearing Red and Golden Kiwi . Red kiwi is sold in the market at a higher price than other types of kiwi. Among the red kiwis, they ripen from July to October and come to the market .

Lila Bahadur Subedi of Bhimeshwar-3, who picked red kiwi and brought it to the market last week, sold kiwi very well. He complained that the price was 200 rupees per kg this year. 'The market price has decreased from 100 to 1500 rupees every year,' he said. has been shrunk .' It has been a decade and a half since Kiwi cultivation started in

district. More than 8 thousand metric tons are being produced . He said that the price of red kiwi, which is the best grading in the market, is sold at 200 to 300 rupees. But he says that the quality of kiwi has decreased due to farmers planting random varieties in the name of kiwi farming. In the

district, 6 varieties of Kiwi including Hayward, Allison, and Monty Bruno are currently planted by the farmers . Gita Dahal of Bhimeshwar-6 planted 600 kiwi plants 5 years ago. Now, it has been 2 years since the plants began to bear fruit. But he is not sure where to sell the kiwi.

'In the past, we planted a large amount of kiwifruit because it gives good income,' she says, 'the market is not finished after the start of production, but the production has increased this year. I am looking for a market.' She said that it can be up to fifty.

Kiwi farmers picked kiwis and brought them to the market 2 months ago. In the greed of income, farmers have applied without technical knowledge . Kiwi farming is expensive at first . If 50 plants are to be planted, the farmer will spend at least 250,000.

"Kiwi farmers are increasing every year," Dahal said, "There is not a house without kiwi from 1/2 in every house in the district." Kiwi production is increasing, accordingly the quality is decreasing. More than 3,000 farmers in the district have cultivated kiwi commercially.

She said that if the government brands Kiwi and exports it abroad, the farmers will not get the market. Kiwi consumption is very low in Nepal and there is no market, so he is worried that the farmers will start farming again. Kiwis smaller than 80 grams are not considered quality kiwis.

The government has invested more than 80 crores by encouraging Dolakha under the Kiwi Zone program . Currently, the said government program is not in the district. The local level is also encouraging Kiwi. But the three levels of government have not brought any plans for its marketing and branding.

Deputy Chief Kamala Basnet said that Bhimeshwar Municipality has conducted skills development training to produce jam, jelly, juice, etc. from kiwi which is not sold in the market. "Farmers are selling the kiwi produced by their access inside and outside the country," she said are doing . But the future of this fruit has not been studied by any body. Farmers have complained that despite attracting farmers to kiwifruit without study, marketing has not been facilitated from anywhere .