Kathmandu, December 20:

Farmers have been marred by the lack of market for fruits grown at the Chure hilly area in Doti and Kailali districts due to ongoing Covid-19 menace. As a result, fruits ripen in their farm have started rotting in some areas, but there is no market, said a farmer, Roj Bahadur Kalel of Badikedar Rural Municipality-1 in Doti district. “We will incur a big loss as our products have lost the market due to the infection,” he said. They were losing their willpower for not having market for their fruits, said another farmer Sher Bahadur Bohara of Jorayal Rural Municipality-6. This year, there had been a slim mobility of the traders to purchase fruits grown in the villages, thanks to the virus. The affected farmers have urged the provincial and local governments to take initiatives in finding the market for their products. Lack of roads connecting the market and the agricultural product collection center have made the matter worse, they complained. Badikedar, Jorayal, KI Singh and Bogatan Foodsil Rural Municipalities in Doti district are known for growing orange, lemon, pulse and soybean. In Doti, sale of citrus fruits like orange and lemon has been estimated to be Rs 10 million yearly. Initiatives have been taken to manage an agricultural product collection center at the farming site and provide the market for agricultural products, said Yagya Raj Joshi, chief of the Directorate of Agriculture Development, Dipayal. Nigali at Chure Rural Municipality in Kailali district and surrounding villages including Sahajpur and Khairala are the pocket area for orange farming. Orange produced at Nigali in Kailali district has been a choice for consumers in Tarai. More than 100 tonnes of oranges have been produced in Nigali annually, said local farmers. The village has more than 200 farmers engaged in the orange production. “A farmer has earned at least Rs 50,000 to Rs 600,000 annually from the sale of orange,” said a farmer Kisan Acharya, who has grown 532 orange saplings in his farmlands. A quintal of orange fetches Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 in retail price at the production site. Orange has been sold for Rs 110 to Rs 120 per kg in the local market.