JHAPA: The local business community in Jhapa has stated that domestic production has badly suffered due to an illegal import of chicken from India.

The stories of betel nut producers are also similar as a huge amount of betel nut is imported from third countries.

Chairman of the District Poultry Producers Association, Jhapa, Bibek Niraula said that the poultry business in Jhapa could face closure if we failed to cease the illegal imports of chicken and eggs, which is happening by taking advantage of the Nepal-India porous border.

Niraula argued that more than 4,000 kilograms of flesh, live chicken and a large number of eggs are imported on a daily basis from 144 km long open border in Jhapa.

From this, more than Rs 500 million is sent to India illegally every year, it is said.

Poultry is the only self-reliant agriculture-based industry in Nepal and the state should play a role to ban the illegal imports in order to protect this industry, Niraula said.

Meanwhile, the betel nuts-producing farmers have also complained for poor state of market due to imports from the third countries.

Betel nuts farmers Nilkantha Tiwari said that imports of betel nuts should be banned since the imports are targeted at smuggling to India after buying in the Dollars from the third countries.

Since we have the sufficient supply of the betel nuts from our own productions, why do we need to import from the third countries including Singapore? Tiwari asked.