The district is the key producer of widely used vegetables such as bitter gourd, bottle gourd, ladies finger, French bean, tomatoes, soybeans, among others. [break]
"We have seen dominance of Dhading in supplying vegetables to the valley for last eight years as increasing number of farmers in the districts are pursuing commercial farming and supplying their produce to major markets including capital," said Arjun Aryal, director of KFVMDB.
Geeta Prasad Acharya, a wholesaler in Kalimati market, said a rising number of farmers have taken to vegetable farming ignoring conventional crops in the district, which is one of the nearest districts to the Kathmandu valley. Contribution of the district, however, went down to 14 percent during the review year from 18 percent the previous year.
During the review year, Kalimati market received total 200,000 tons of vegetables from different districts and through imports from different countries. Indian supplies constituted 25 percent, Bhutan one percent and China two percent during the year.
Kavre, Makwanpur, Chitwan and Kathmandu districts are the second, third and fourth largest suppliers whereas Kathmandu itself contributes as the fifth largest supplier district.
Vegetable traders said proximity with the capital and massive commercialization of agriculture coupled with accessible markets are the major causes that put Dhading at the top position among the vegetable supplying districts.
According to Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board (KFVMDB), vegetables arrived during the year from Kavre accounted for 11 percent of the total supplies in Kalimati market - the largest vegetable market in the country. Kavre has been dominating the market as a producer of potatoes, cucumber, beans, radish and gourds.
Makwanpur which contributes eight percent of total supplies to Kalimati is the major producer of potatoes, local cauli, radish and cabbage.
Chitwan district, which covers six percent of total vegetable supplies in Kalimati, is key producer of vegetables such as cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower and brinjal.
Similarly, Kathmandu had four percent market share with its major production being potatoes, peas, green garlic, onion, turnip among others.
Aryal, director of KFVMDB, said increasing commercialization in vegetable farming, switching from the traditional cereal farming, is the main cause behind the dominance of Dhading, Kavre, Makwanpur, Chitwan and Kathmandu.
However, Aryal said share of domestic vegetables is gradually going down with increasing presence of imported vegetables.
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