Taplejung, Dec. 28: Export of the kiwi fruit produced in Taplejung has elated the local farmers.  Earlier, farmers had been suffering from a lack of market but recently kiwis of Taplejune are being supplied to Jhapa, Kathmandu and other places outside the district.

According to Sagar Ijam Limbu, a resident of Pathibhara Yangwarak Rural Municipality-3, Tiringe, the kiwi fruit produced here this year has been supplied to the markets in Damak and Kathmandu. Limbu informed that more than 15 quintals kiwi produced in Tiringe is sent outside the district. According to him, about 25 quintals of kiwi were supplied outside the district last year.

Limbu said that as hail caused damage to the fruit this year, kiwi production has been affected and there is no shortage of market for the produce.

 According to him, the buyers have purchased kiwi fruit at a price of up to Rs. 100 per kilo. Local farmers have also said that they have not been able to supply kiwi according to the demand of the buyers. According to them, 500,000 to 700,000 kgs of kiwi would have been produced during the rainy season this year if the hail had not damaged the crop. 

Tiringe village is considered a pocket area for kiwi production therefore the local body has announced it so. It is said that after the announcement of the pocket area for kiwi cultivation, the rural municipality is also giving subsidies to the farmers involved in the production of the fruit.

Limbu also informed that five different private agricultural firms of kiwi cultivation are being operated with the help of the provincial government through Agricultural Knowledge Centre Taplejung. 

According to him, the state government through Agricultural Knowledge Centre gave a subsidy of Rs. 500,000 to each agricultural firm. Likewise, local farmers said that the rural municipality has been providing continuous subsidy support for kiwi cultivation management and plant production and purchase.

Farmers have been cultivating kiwi in most of the areas of the district including Tiringe. In the beginning, there was no market for kiwi, and the farmers involved in farming were desperate.  Rajkumar Gurung, a resident of Phungling Municipality-7, said that kiwis are being sold well in the local market and are being regularly sent outside the district. 

According to him, the fruit is sold from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 per kilogram according to the size and quality. He also informed that the demand from traders outside the district is increasing as the kiwi produced here is ‘tasty’.