According to the District Agriculture Office (DAO) Dadeldhura, the price of walnut has doubled mainly because walnut has rotten in the tree itself due to extended monsoon.[break]
Last year the price of soft walnut hovered around Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg and the price of hard walnut was Rs 100 per kg. But this year the price of soft walnut has reached up to Rs 600 per kg while the hard ones are available at Rs 200 per kg.
Tek Bahadur Bista, a technical assistant at DAO Dadeldhura, said that the production of walnut declined this year as most of the walnuts got rotten in the trees before they could be picked. According to Bista, around 3,000 to 5,000 walnuts grow in a tree.
The increasing price of walnut has affected its sales.
Businessmen who buy walnut every year have decreased the volume of their purchase due to soaring prices. “I bought walnuts worth Rs 30,000 last year but this year I bought walnuts of Rs 10,000 only as the price is very high this year,” said Narad Joshi, a walnut trader.
There are more than dozen of walnut traders in Dadeldhura only. Dadeldhura is the main trading center for walnuts and more than hundred quintals of walnuts are brought to Dadeldhura every day.
According to DAO Dadeldhura, around 200 quintals of walnuts are produced in Dadeldhura, 400 quintals in Baitadi and 300 quintals in Bajhang. However Bista said that there is no data of how much walnuts are produced in total.
As per the record of DAO Dadeldhura, a walnut farmer earns around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 in a season.
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