Farmers in Myagdi earn Rs. 210 million by selling oranges

Myagdi: The farmers of Myagdi have earned more than Rs. 210 million this year by selling oranges. Orange is the main agricultural produce exported from Myagdi.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Myagdi, the sale of 3,600 metric tonnes of oranges produced in the district this year has a turnover of Rs. 216 million. Information Officer of the Centre, Samjhana Acharya said oranges worth Rs. 170 million were produced and sold last year.

Oranges are sold at the rate of Rs. 55 to Rs. 60 per kg. Beni municipality has produced and sold oranges worth Rs. 33.8 million.

Similarly, Malika Rural Municipality sold oranges worth Rs. 13.6 million while Annapurna Rural Municipality and Mangala Rural Municipality each exported oranges worth Rs. 13 million.

Likewise, Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality exported oranges worth Rs. 3 million and 70 thousand and Raghuganga exported oranges worth Rs. 2.5 million, said Information Officer Acharya. Oranges worth Rs 22 million have been sold from Bhakimli, Marek and Rakhu area of Beni Municipality-3 alone.

Oranges worth Rs. 11 million were sold from Thamdanda, Baskuna and Surkemela at Singa of the Municipality’s Ward No 4, said Sandip Khatri, the ward chairperson and an orange farmer.

Sanjeev Bastola, the Chief of AKC Myagdi, said that out of the 810 hectares of land where oranges were grown in Myagdi, oranges on only 420 hectares gave good harvest.

‘The productivity of oranges is 8.6 metric tonnes per hectare,’ he said, adding, ‘The production of oranges has increased due to favorable weather, control of disease and insect outbreaks, subsidies to farmers in fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural tools and materials, and expansion of the area under cultivation.’