Even when oranges are ready for harvest, fruit dealers are reluctant to buy the oranges on realizing that they would be unable to transport them to the marketplaces in lack of fuel. Orange farmers say they are doomed to incur losses amounting to millions of rupees if the situation does not change soon.
In previous years, oranges would have already reached markets by October, according to the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO). The orange farmers in the district made a combined sales of around Rs 330 million, as per DADO data.
"I had managed to sell all the oranges by this time last year. But none of the fruit dealers have contacted me till now. If I failed to sell the fruits, I'll suffer huge losses," said an orange farmer Tir Maya Gurung of Dahathum. "The dealers know that they will not be able to transport the oranges to markets. Hiring porters to do the job would not be profitable for them," she added. She had invested Rs 500,000 in her orchard this season.
According to Bodh Raj Aryal, secretary of Orange Production Association, orange sales have not begun although the fruits have already ripened. "The wholesale fruit traders had promised good money to the farmers. But now the situation is different as contractors are unable to reach the villages. So we have told the farmers to sell their oranges themselves."
Tilak Bahadur KC, officer at DADO, said that around 13,000 metric tons of oranges were produced in 1,160 hectors of land in Syangja last year. Around 10,000 metric tonswere transported out of the district for sale. "The acute shortage of fuel due to the ongoing Indian blockade is the main reason. Not all of the oranges produced will be consumed within the district. But in lack of fuel, they have no means to transport them outside the district," added KC.
Related story
Lamjung witnesses decline in orange production this year
-1200x560-1773818828.webp)
-1773673205.webp)
