BAGLUNG: Rural areas of Baglung are currently awash with oranges, but farmers say they are not receiving fair prices for their produce.
They complain that every year they are forced to sell oranges cheaply as traders come directly to orchards and dictate prices.
Areas such as Kathekhola, Baglung Municipality, Jaimini, and Galkot are well known for orange production. According to To Bahadur Khadka, a farmer from Sigana in Baglung Municipality–8, oranges that sell for more than Rs 120 per kilogram in urban markets are purchased from villages at just Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kilogram.
He said both farmers and consumers are suffering due to the role of middlemen. Khadka said the lack of a proper marketing system for farmers’ produce has left growers at a disadvantage.
“Oranges are produced in large quantities in Sigana. If we could get prices that reflect the value of our produce, the living standards of farmers here would undoubtedly improve,” he said.
“But traders come to the villages during Shrawan and Bhadau and buy entire orchards in advance. Farmers cannot get more than Rs 40–50 per kilogram, while consumers end up paying much higher prices in the market.”
Another farmer, Hari Prasad Kandel, echoed similar concerns, saying that traders make excessive profits by sharply increasing prices between farm gate and market. He said farmers and consumers would not be exploited if oranges were bought from farmers at around Rs 80 per kilogram and sold in markets at Rs 100.
According to the Agricultural Development Office, Baglung produced oranges worth Rs 264.654 million last year, with a total harvest of 4,071.6 metric tons. This year’s production figures are yet to be finalized, as farmers have only just begun harvesting oranges.
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