Any self-respecting Nepali must have been saddened by the news titled 'Maharashtra's potatoes in Karnali's kitchen, Kanpur's greens'.
Dilsara Budha of Urthuki in Chandannath Municipality of Jumla has a turnover of around 2 lakh rupees from the vegetables produced on his 7-planted land during the rainy season, but the statement that he has to depend on vegetables from India in the winter and dry season has proven to be a failure of a well-known district like Jumla. If this is the situation in the capital, what will be the situation in the rural areas?
The experience of Pampha Budha of Saniveri Rural Municipality-3 in Rukum West is not different from that of Dilsara. Most of the year, he does not enjoy cooking vegetables such as onion, garlic, and cabbage from India. For decades, the state and local governments have been neglecting the tasks of making farmers self-reliant and promoting exports, so all the districts of Karnali province are forced to depend on Indian vegetables.
According to the data of the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Karnali Province, from July to March of the current financial year, while vegetables worth 93 crores were imported from India, only 17 crores worth of agricultural goods were exported from Karnali. Doesn't this number prove that the agricultural sector has declined even more in the 10 years since the federal government system has been in operation, even though all the districts of Karnali are fertile?
Indian vegetables are transported to various districts of Karnali by vehicles, planes, helicopters, and also from Khachhad to remote villages. The reference to the fact that the Indian vegetables that have reached the village after long distance and expensive transportation is sold at less than half price compared to the locally produced ones, has revealed our indifference, indolence and neglect of the farmers. Amidst the sad situation of piles of Indian vegetables in all the villages of Jumla, which has been declared a natural district for the first time since
, the responsible officials of the government are watching and enjoying the big gossip of agricultural development. Perhaps this is why he was ashamed. What could be more ironic than this?
– Bhuvneshwar Sharma , Chandragiri-2, Kathmandu
