Orange production in Solukhumbu, a mountainous district in Nepal's Koshi province, has seen a significant increase this season. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre Solukhumbu, production has risen by over 400 tonnes. The district produced 469 tonnes more oranges in the current fiscal year 2023-24 than in the previous fiscal year, 2022-23.
Kul Bahadur Rai, Information Officer at the Centre, highlighted that orange production last fiscal year was 1,690 tonnes, and it reached 2,159 tonnes in the current fiscal. Orange cultivation in the district covers 295 hectares of land, but this year, production was harvested only from 257 hectares. Rai attributes this year's increased production to a rise in the number of high-yielding orange trees.
However, despite the rising production, farmers have voiced concerns about the difficulty of transporting their produce to market. A local farmer lamented that a large portion of Deusa's oranges go to waste due to a lack of market and transportation facilities. He further noted that the market for the district's oranges is confined within the district itself, limiting the potential for profit.
Source: english.khabarhub.com