The prices has dropped in a range of Rs 5 to Rs 25 per kg for items such as apple, green apple, pear, sweet orange, guava, sugarcane, mombin, Mustang apple and banana among others.[break]
However, major price increment has been seen in some off-season fruits such as pomegranate which reached Rs 175 a kg from Rs 150 per kg, water melon to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 25 per kg. Likewise, papaya is now available at Rs 40 a kg which was earlier priced Rs 32 per kg.
Nepal Fruits Wholesale Associations (NFWA) attributed the drop to the end of festivals and a rise in supply of fruits in the market. The price of some of the fruits has fallen with the end of monsoon. Earlier, lack of proper storage during monsoon caused price of some seasonal fruits to go up during the monsoon season.
Dipendra Shrestha, senior planning officer at NFWA, informed Republica that the Kathmandu valley is currently receiving around 150 tons of fruits every day, which is normal for the season. He however quickly added that the prices may go up within a week as Dashain is near.
On Sunday, apple was priced Rs 85 per kg whereas a week ago it was Rs 95 per kg. Green apple was sold at Rs 80 per kg compared to Rs 100 per kg a week ago. Likewise, sweet orange dropped to Rs 65 a kg from Rs 80 a kg whereas pear dropped to Rs 90 a kg from Rs 100 per kg over the week.
Arjun Parsad Humagein, wholesaler at NFWA, said that price of fruits has gone down not since last week but with the end of festivals and the monsoon season.
Price of fruits has been continuously decreasing in the market although Nepal has to depend on India and China to meet the demand of fruits in the local market. Humagein said sufficient supply thanks to high production of the seasonal fruits is the major reason behind the fall in price.
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