RSSAn apple a day keeps the doctor away. The Kathmandu denizen seemed to be very familiar with this statement. The recent study shows that Kathmandu valley imports or more precisely consumes somewhere around thirteen thousand tones of apple a year. The data still exclude the consumption of apples in other major cities of Nepal like Biratnagar, Pokhara and or Butwal. More than seventy five percent of the apple is imported from China and the rest from India according to Kantipur daily. The gross monetary value of the imported apples in a year sums up to six hundred fifty million rupees.
It’s not that Nepal itself doesn’t produce enough apples. Places like Jumla, Jomsom and its surrounding districts have the potential to produce enough apples and on top of that, a lot more of them could be spared which can be exported. Jumla itself produces five thousand tones of apples a year of which only twenty percent of them are consumed. The rest rots away in the fields or fed to animals. The only problem with the apples grown in Jumla is the lack of proper transportation and carriage. Means of public transportation is inaccessible in those areas and the only mode of transport are aerial route or through porter. Hiring a couple of porters is relatively cheaper compared to aerial rout but then again, the final consumer price still sky rockets. Also the quality of apples grown in those parts of Nepal hugely differs from those of imported ones. Farmers in those parts heavily depend upon natural and organic fertilizers as chemical fertilizers cost high.
The only thing that could be done to bring those apples to the valley or to some other parts of Nepal, the government should intercept. The cost of aerial routs for carrying agricultural products within the country should be subsidized. Looking at the cost factor, if a minimum amount of apple per kilogram be assumed at Rs.50.00, the amount spent on buying apples from foreign countries sum up to six hundred fifty million rupees a year. So if the government could only subsidize the transport cost of three hundred twenty five million rupees a year, the remaining fifty percent of the total amount could still be saved. And in addition to the savings, people of all corners of the country can savor apples of better quality and the unemployment crisis can also be solved to some extent.
Now is the time for the government to act quickly and control the amount of money being spent on buying apples from foreign countries. This is just a matter of spending on apples; there are a lot more sectors where money is carelessly being flown.
It’s not that Nepal itself doesn’t produce enough apples. Places like Jumla, Jomsom and its surrounding districts have the potential to produce enough apples and on top of that, a lot more of them could be spared which can be exported. Jumla itself produces five thousand tones of apples a year of which only twenty percent of them are consumed. The rest rots away in the fields or fed to animals. The only problem with the apples grown in Jumla is the lack of proper transportation and carriage. Means of public transportation is inaccessible in those areas and the only mode of transport are aerial route or through porter. Hiring a couple of porters is relatively cheaper compared to aerial rout but then again, the final consumer price still sky rockets. Also the quality of apples grown in those parts of Nepal hugely differs from those of imported ones. Farmers in those parts heavily depend upon natural and organic fertilizers as chemical fertilizers cost high.
The only thing that could be done to bring those apples to the valley or to some other parts of Nepal, the government should intercept. The cost of aerial routs for carrying agricultural products within the country should be subsidized. Looking at the cost factor, if a minimum amount of apple per kilogram be assumed at Rs.50.00, the amount spent on buying apples from foreign countries sum up to six hundred fifty million rupees a year. So if the government could only subsidize the transport cost of three hundred twenty five million rupees a year, the remaining fifty percent of the total amount could still be saved. And in addition to the savings, people of all corners of the country can savor apples of better quality and the unemployment crisis can also be solved to some extent.
Now is the time for the government to act quickly and control the amount of money being spent on buying apples from foreign countries. This is just a matter of spending on apples; there are a lot more sectors where money is carelessly being flown.
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