Surjmaya Maharjan of Kirtipur Tanglachowk visits the nearest shop every morning to buy fresh vegetables. Last December 13, when I went to buy vegetables, it was 100 rupees per kilo. Vegetables are unaffordably expensive. I bought Banda, Mula, Fersi and Khusarni, only 150 out of 500 was returned,” she said.

On that day, the price of local Banda was Rs 70 per kg in the Kalimati vegetable market. By the time it arrived at the retail store, it had increased by 30 rupees. Farmers sold the same at 50 rupees per kg. Thus, starting from the farmer's field and reaching the consumer's kitchen, the price of vegetables has increased rapidly.

Not only the nearby Dhading and Kavre, but also vegetables from other districts and across the border in India are coming to Kathmandu Valley. When the farmer's produce reaches the consumer, it crosses 5 levels of supply. Vegetables are collected from the garden and transported to the collection center, the buyer, the transporter, then the wholesaler and the retailer, and finally the vegetables reach the consumer's kitchen.

Jasveer Chepang of Jhagre village, Benighat Rorang rural municipality-7 of Dhading has grown a banana in four seedlings. Now is the time to pick the clothes that were planted in August. He reaches the field by 7 am. When the car arrives at 9 o'clock, he has to rush to load it. These vegetables are delivered to the vegetable collection center at Benighat Rorang-7 Charoudi.

Farmers Improvement Fruits and Vegetables Cooperative Society opened this center. Here Benighat Rorang-4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 wards and surrounding vegetables are collected. From here, traders buy vegetables and send them to Kathmandu, Pokhara, Butwal and Narayangadh.

Jasveer has to pay Rs 2-3 per kg for transporting vegetables from the farm to the collection center which is 15 minutes away. He had 1,800 kilos, for which he paid 2,000 rupees. He had spent 25,000 rupees from planting the saplings to raising the chickens. At the collection center, Jasveer was waiting to see how much his four months of hard work would pay off. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said after a while, 'I got 55 rupees per kg.' But he believes that the main market cannot be reached due to lack of vehicles and investment for transportation. 'If he had his own vehicle, he would take it to the main market and sell it,' says Jasveer, 'if he could not, he would have to rely on middlemen, the government or the municipality would have done something.' Bhattarai brought the golbenda to the collection center to sell. Cheli planted 60 gourd plants in half of the plantation. Bhup Bahadur has planted Golvenda in two plantations. We have been farming for 20 years, this is our market. Today, I sold golevenda for up to 70 rupees per kg, said Bhup Bahadur. 

Rajkumar Shrestha of Charoudi is the first transporter to pick vegetables from the fields of farmers like Bhup Bahadur and Cheli. They charge 2-3 rupees per kg for bringing vegetables to the collection center. He said that up to 4200 kilos of vegetables are collected daily from 10 to 16 farmers. They say, 'Diesel, driver's allowance, labor charge. One tip costs up to 5500 rupees. By cutting everything, I will save up to 5 thousand rupees.' Prakash Basnet, a businessman, buys vegetables from farmers and delivers them to different cities. He used to deliver 5-7 tons of vegetables at a time to Kathmandu, Pokhara and Narayanghat markets. Basnet says that it is not possible to sell farmers' vegetables without middlemen.

'I am not a businessman. Our geographical situation is not easy. The road is closed. 5/6 tons of stuff. If it is stopped in the middle, we have to bear the risk," he says. He used to sell vegetables to wholesalers of Balkhu and Kalimati in Kathmandu. ``The price given to the farmer should be Rs 3 per kg and he should keep a profit for himself. Another stress is if our vegetables get stuck in the way. The risk we take is also high," he says. 

Ramkumar Dawadi of Benighat is a businessman who delivers the vegetables collected from Charoudi to the big market. "I pay 60 rupees per kg to farmers and sell them in bulk by adding 10 rupees," he says. He says that the amount will be added for shipping and his profit.

'Shipping cost per kg will be added Rs 3.5. Bags and sacks are priced. A bag costs 30 rupees. If you have to sell on commission, it costs Rs 5.5 per kg,” says Dawadi.

The distance from Benighat to Kathmandu is about 52 km. Traders transport vegetables to the Kathmandu market at a cost of up to 3 rupees per kg. The wholesaler also puts Rs 10 more in it and gives it to the retailer. Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market and Balkhu Agriculture and Vegetable Market are the biggest wholesale vegetable markets in Kathmandu. 

According to Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati vegetable market, the minimum and maximum price is determined by looking at the quality of the vegetables brought to Kalimati. Accordingly, wholesalers sell to retailers. "After determining the price, we put it online," he said, "We ask the stall traders to keep the price list of the vegetables." According to a report on November 7, the golvenda sold by the farmers at 70 rupees was 140 rupees when it reached the consumer's kitchen. Similarly, it was found that the gourd of 55 rupees went up to 100 and the gourd of 45 rupees went up to 120 rupees.

Traders can pick up the farmer's goods from Charoodi till 5 pm. From there at 6-7 o'clock the train leaves for Kathmandu and other markets. Kathmandu will arrive by 10 pm. After that, the cartman himself leaves the goods at the wholesaler's stall. From three o'clock in the morning, traders come to their stalls and start selling vegetables. 

Lakshminarayan Shrestha, a wholesaler in Kalimati who sells Charoudi Golvenda, says that he will keep 2-3 percent commission per kg. We also have investments as traders. It will be taken according to the sales,'' he says. Vegetables left for more than a day start spoiling.

Namraj Rizal, a wholesaler in Balkhu, says, "Adding four rupees vehicle fare to the vegetables bought at 45, it becomes 49. Adding the cost of unloading the load comes to 52. In this, the trader will save 3 rupees and I will save 2 rupees. If there is no sale, there is a risk of having to sell at a lower price than the purchase price. 

Tank Thapa, a retail vegetable seller in Kirtipur, brings four hundred kilos of vegetables at a time. 500 per vehicle for transportation. "When vegetables are brought in this way, they are damaged, rotten and not properly graded. That's why we should keep 30 percent profit and sell it," he says. 

Consumers are always bothered by high prices of vegetables. It is a strange thing for the farmers to get the market price, sometimes they have to raise the cost of production. Stakeholders say that the long cycle from the farm to the market and the profiteering of middlemen are the main reasons for this. Krishna Poudel, an agricultural expert, says that due to the small amount of production, uneven production due to geographical location and farmers not having different types of products, middlemen are dominant. 

For this, the structure of the market should be changed. Improvements can only be made by institutionalizing local collection centers, local and haat bazaars," says Paudel, "this is within the reach of the local government and farmers. And gradually the process of regulation starts. He argues that middlemen are needed in business, but they should be regulated by the government. 

Khomprasad Ghimire, the former president of the Fruit Federation, disagrees that there are many levels from farmers to consumers. He says, "There are three levels: buying from farmers, then wholesale and retail." He emphasizes that transparent prices should be kept so as not to kill farmers. Prakash Basnet, a big businessman, says that the middleman will not be removed at once. "Middlemen can be reduced through cooperatives and the government," he said.

Uddhav Adhikari, the founding president of the National Farmers' Union Federation, says that the farmers are suffering due to lack of government standards for the sale of produce and lack of compliance. Retailer Tank Thapa emphasized that the government should manage it. He suggested that there should be a situation where farmers do not have to throw away vegetables even if there are too many and there should be an environment where there is a parallel price even when there are no vegetables.

Consumer rights activist Madhav Prasad Timilsana said that it is expensive because there are many levels from the producer to the consumer. He says that although the Consumer Protection Act, 2075 has provisions to maintain a clean market by continuously analyzing and reviewing the demand and supply status of goods or services consumed within the country, the government is indifferent in its implementation.

"Even though the law says that the government will make necessary arrangements to prevent and control the price fixing or increase done by the producer, distributor or distributor of goods or services in an unwanted way," he said, "on the other hand, our market is also unscientific." The state should regulate to manage.' He said that payments made by traders to farmers and the payment process at every level should be made transparent. He said that it is the government's responsibility to ensure the market for the products grown by the farmers, and to provide timely fertilizers and seeds.