Vegetable imports increasing in India
According to the Regional Plant Quarantine at Gadda Chauki, potatoes worth Rs370 million are imported on an annual basis. Green vegetable imports stand at around Rs180 million. Vegetables like cabbage, radish, cauliflower and green peas are imported on a large scale.
Farmers across the region are involved in seasonal and off-seasonal vegetable farming. Several government and non-government agencies have launched schemes to motivate farmers to begin commercial farming. Belauri, Krishnapur, Jhalari, Mahendranagar and Mahakali are some of the major vegetable producing areas.
According to the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), vegetables are cultivated on 4,450 hectares of land in Kanchanpur, while the output stands at around 56,000 metric tonnes annually.
However, the production barely meets the local demand, and around 25,000 metric tonnes of vegetables are imported by India annually. “More than 50 percent of the imports are consumed in Kanchanpur district,” said Yagya Raj Joshi, senior agricultural development officer at the DADO. “Reaming is consumed in Banke, Kailai and other hilly districts of the Far West.”
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source: kathmandupost.ekantipur.com
