Orange farming up in Gandaki Province

Gandaki, Nov 25: The Gandaki Province has witnessed expansion of orange farming.

The fruit was cultivated in 7,945 hectares of land two years ago, while it grew by 397 hectares of land last year, reaching 8,342 hectares. As per the preliminary data, orange farming has been expanded by around 500 hectares of land this year, according to the Directorate of Agriculture Development, Gandaki Province.

However, Directorate Chief Basudev Regmi informed area for orange farming is increasing every year, but orange production has decreased this year. Regmi shared that orange production has decreased this year due to hailstone and disease.

He further said 55,935 metric tonnes of orange was produced in Gandaki Province last year. According to the Directorate, oranges worth around Rs 2.79 billion was produced in the province last year. The citrus fruit is being cultivated in all districts of Gandaki Province except Mustang and Manang.

The farming was done in 2,067 hectares of land in Syangja, 1,712 hectares in Tanahu, 1,082 hectares in Gorkha, 894 hectares in Kaski, 872 hectares in Parbat, 780 hectares in Myagdi, 622 hectares in Baglung, 172 hectares in Lamjung and 142 hectares in Nawalpur till last year.

The data of expansion of district-wise orange farming has not been received this year, it was shared. Orange 'super zone', 'pocket' and 'block' programmes have been launched for the expansion and commercialization of orange farming.