Agriculture

Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa

Apr 19, 2022 0 3 minutes 7 seconds to read

April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the…

Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections

Apr 19, 2022 0 3 minutes 4 seconds to read

April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable…

Agriculture Sector Faced Numerous Problems in 2078

Apr 15, 2022 0 4 minutes 4 seconds to read

April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs.…

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			'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa',
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			'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, &ldquo;I don&#39;t know how to repay the loan now.&rdquo;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&ldquo;Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,&rdquo; he said.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, &ldquo;Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.&rdquo; Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Under the Prime Minister&#39;s Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&nbsp;According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. &ldquo;The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,&rdquo; Sharma said.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. Last year, neither the weather was favourable for the farmers nor the government was able to bring any encouraging programmes. Moreover, most of the programmes announced were not implemented properly. Outbreaks of armyworms were reported in maize planted in 67 districts earlier this year. The government made efforts to prevent and control the problem, but it was not effective enough to satisfy the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Dairy farmers and businessmen suffered greatly due to not being able to sell stock of powdered milk and butter worth more than Rs 3 billion at the beginning of the year as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic and prohibitory orders. The challenges faced by the dairy business still persisted at the end of the year 2078, despite the government increasing the price of milk and milk products. While milk was surplus at the beginning of the year, there was a shortage of milk by the end of the year.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to Prahlad Dahal, general secretary of the Nepal Dairy Association, there is a shortage of 300,000 liters of milk in the market currently as many farmers gave up on dairy business due to the pandemic. According to him, the risk of foreign milk products gaining market has increased after the decline in milk production in the domestic market. Although farmers were excited when the government increased the price of milk by Rs 10 per liter after many years, now the middlemen are making more profit than the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Just like the previous years, farmers faced shortage of chemical fertilizers in 2078 as well. Farmers in most of the districts could not get fertilizer during the main planting season. The government-owned Salt Trading Corporation failed to distribute fertilizers evenly despite having sufficient stock. Last March, the government decided to import 935,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer for the next five years through G2G deal with the Government of India. However, there are doubts about its implementation. As the farming season is approaching, the contracted companies have not been able to import fertilizers even after the expiration of the contract period.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers were also affected by natural calamities in 2078. The unseasonal rainfall from October 16 to 20 destroyed paddy crop planted in 111,069 hectares of land across the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 42,113 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 11.87 billion were destroyed at that time.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the &#39;Agriculture for Food&#39; campaign, also says that there were more negative impacts than positive ones for Nepali farmers and the overall agricultural sector in the year 2078 BS. According to him, it is unfortunate that the decision of the government to provide relief of Rs 5.52 billion to the affected farmers has yet to be implemented.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The unseasonal rainfall caused a loss of over Rs 50 million to the flower business which was declared 90 percent self-sufficient. But the flower producers complained that the government has not addressed the issue so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, less than a year after the declaration of self-reliance, the poultry industry reached a state of crisis. Poultry farmers faced problems like rising prices of raw materials and medicines in the international market, recurring bird flu and epidemics such as Ranikhet, which even led to closure of some hatchery industries after most of the farmers stopped raising chickens. The price of meat went up to around Rs 400 per kg due to the decline in poultry production. Farmers complained that the government has not taken any active initiative to prevent and control the spread of bird flu in 14 districts so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Towards the end of the year, there was a good news for the agricultural sector. Impactors Women&#39;s Development Society, a group of 16 young women, developed a mobile app called &#39;Saathi&#39; which identifies and solves various problems encountered in agriculture through the use of artificial intelligence.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, &ldquo;I don&#39;t know how to repay the loan now.&rdquo;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&ldquo;Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,&rdquo; he said.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, &ldquo;Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.&rdquo; Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Under the Prime Minister&#39;s Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&nbsp;According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. &ldquo;The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,&rdquo; Sharma said.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. Last year, neither the weather was favourable for the farmers nor the government was able to bring any encouraging programmes. Moreover, most of the programmes announced were not implemented properly. Outbreaks of armyworms were reported in maize planted in 67 districts earlier this year. The government made efforts to prevent and control the problem, but it was not effective enough to satisfy the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Dairy farmers and businessmen suffered greatly due to not being able to sell stock of powdered milk and butter worth more than Rs 3 billion at the beginning of the year as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic and prohibitory orders. The challenges faced by the dairy business still persisted at the end of the year 2078, despite the government increasing the price of milk and milk products. While milk was surplus at the beginning of the year, there was a shortage of milk by the end of the year.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to Prahlad Dahal, general secretary of the Nepal Dairy Association, there is a shortage of 300,000 liters of milk in the market currently as many farmers gave up on dairy business due to the pandemic. According to him, the risk of foreign milk products gaining market has increased after the decline in milk production in the domestic market. Although farmers were excited when the government increased the price of milk by Rs 10 per liter after many years, now the middlemen are making more profit than the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Just like the previous years, farmers faced shortage of chemical fertilizers in 2078 as well. Farmers in most of the districts could not get fertilizer during the main planting season. The government-owned Salt Trading Corporation failed to distribute fertilizers evenly despite having sufficient stock. Last March, the government decided to import 935,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer for the next five years through G2G deal with the Government of India. However, there are doubts about its implementation. As the farming season is approaching, the contracted companies have not been able to import fertilizers even after the expiration of the contract period.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers were also affected by natural calamities in 2078. The unseasonal rainfall from October 16 to 20 destroyed paddy crop planted in 111,069 hectares of land across the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 42,113 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 11.87 billion were destroyed at that time.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the &#39;Agriculture for Food&#39; campaign, also says that there were more negative impacts than positive ones for Nepali farmers and the overall agricultural sector in the year 2078 BS. According to him, it is unfortunate that the decision of the government to provide relief of Rs 5.52 billion to the affected farmers has yet to be implemented.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The unseasonal rainfall caused a loss of over Rs 50 million to the flower business which was declared 90 percent self-sufficient. But the flower producers complained that the government has not addressed the issue so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, less than a year after the declaration of self-reliance, the poultry industry reached a state of crisis. Poultry farmers faced problems like rising prices of raw materials and medicines in the international market, recurring bird flu and epidemics such as Ranikhet, which even led to closure of some hatchery industries after most of the farmers stopped raising chickens. The price of meat went up to around Rs 400 per kg due to the decline in poultry production. Farmers complained that the government has not taken any active initiative to prevent and control the spread of bird flu in 14 districts so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Towards the end of the year, there was a good news for the agricultural sector. Impactors Women&#39;s Development Society, a group of 16 young women, developed a mobile app called &#39;Saathi&#39; which identifies and solves various problems encountered in agriculture through the use of artificial intelligence.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa',
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			'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, &ldquo;I don&#39;t know how to repay the loan now.&rdquo;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&ldquo;Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,&rdquo; he said.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, &ldquo;Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.&rdquo; Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Under the Prime Minister&#39;s Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&nbsp;According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'title' => 'Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections ',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods. Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. &ldquo;The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,&rdquo; Sharma said.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'article_category_id' => '277',
			'title' => 'Agriculture Sector Faced Numerous Problems in 2078',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. ',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. Last year, neither the weather was favourable for the farmers nor the government was able to bring any encouraging programmes. Moreover, most of the programmes announced were not implemented properly. Outbreaks of armyworms were reported in maize planted in 67 districts earlier this year. The government made efforts to prevent and control the problem, but it was not effective enough to satisfy the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Dairy farmers and businessmen suffered greatly due to not being able to sell stock of powdered milk and butter worth more than Rs 3 billion at the beginning of the year as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic and prohibitory orders. The challenges faced by the dairy business still persisted at the end of the year 2078, despite the government increasing the price of milk and milk products. While milk was surplus at the beginning of the year, there was a shortage of milk by the end of the year.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to Prahlad Dahal, general secretary of the Nepal Dairy Association, there is a shortage of 300,000 liters of milk in the market currently as many farmers gave up on dairy business due to the pandemic. According to him, the risk of foreign milk products gaining market has increased after the decline in milk production in the domestic market. Although farmers were excited when the government increased the price of milk by Rs 10 per liter after many years, now the middlemen are making more profit than the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Just like the previous years, farmers faced shortage of chemical fertilizers in 2078 as well. Farmers in most of the districts could not get fertilizer during the main planting season. The government-owned Salt Trading Corporation failed to distribute fertilizers evenly despite having sufficient stock. Last March, the government decided to import 935,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer for the next five years through G2G deal with the Government of India. However, there are doubts about its implementation. As the farming season is approaching, the contracted companies have not been able to import fertilizers even after the expiration of the contract period.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers were also affected by natural calamities in 2078. The unseasonal rainfall from October 16 to 20 destroyed paddy crop planted in 111,069 hectares of land across the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 42,113 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 11.87 billion were destroyed at that time.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the &#39;Agriculture for Food&#39; campaign, also says that there were more negative impacts than positive ones for Nepali farmers and the overall agricultural sector in the year 2078 BS. According to him, it is unfortunate that the decision of the government to provide relief of Rs 5.52 billion to the affected farmers has yet to be implemented.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The unseasonal rainfall caused a loss of over Rs 50 million to the flower business which was declared 90 percent self-sufficient. But the flower producers complained that the government has not addressed the issue so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, less than a year after the declaration of self-reliance, the poultry industry reached a state of crisis. Poultry farmers faced problems like rising prices of raw materials and medicines in the international market, recurring bird flu and epidemics such as Ranikhet, which even led to closure of some hatchery industries after most of the farmers stopped raising chickens. The price of meat went up to around Rs 400 per kg due to the decline in poultry production. Farmers complained that the government has not taken any active initiative to prevent and control the spread of bird flu in 14 districts so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Towards the end of the year, there was a good news for the agricultural sector. Impactors Women&#39;s Development Society, a group of 16 young women, developed a mobile app called &#39;Saathi&#39; which identifies and solves various problems encountered in agriculture through the use of artificial intelligence.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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			'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, &ldquo;I don&#39;t know how to repay the loan now.&rdquo;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&ldquo;Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,&rdquo; he said.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, &ldquo;Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.&rdquo; Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Under the Prime Minister&#39;s Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">&nbsp;According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '15128',
			'article_category_id' => '277',
			'title' => 'Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections ',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods.',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods. Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. &ldquo;The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,&rdquo; Sharma said.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '15109',
			'article_category_id' => '277',
			'title' => 'Agriculture Sector Faced Numerous Problems in 2078',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => 'April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. ',
			'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">April 15: In the year 2078, the agricultural sector of Nepal faced many ups and downs. Last year, neither the weather was favourable for the farmers nor the government was able to bring any encouraging programmes. Moreover, most of the programmes announced were not implemented properly. Outbreaks of armyworms were reported in maize planted in 67 districts earlier this year. The government made efforts to prevent and control the problem, but it was not effective enough to satisfy the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Dairy farmers and businessmen suffered greatly due to not being able to sell stock of powdered milk and butter worth more than Rs 3 billion at the beginning of the year as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic and prohibitory orders. The challenges faced by the dairy business still persisted at the end of the year 2078, despite the government increasing the price of milk and milk products. While milk was surplus at the beginning of the year, there was a shortage of milk by the end of the year.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">According to Prahlad Dahal, general secretary of the Nepal Dairy Association, there is a shortage of 300,000 liters of milk in the market currently as many farmers gave up on dairy business due to the pandemic. According to him, the risk of foreign milk products gaining market has increased after the decline in milk production in the domestic market. Although farmers were excited when the government increased the price of milk by Rs 10 per liter after many years, now the middlemen are making more profit than the farmers.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Just like the previous years, farmers faced shortage of chemical fertilizers in 2078 as well. Farmers in most of the districts could not get fertilizer during the main planting season. The government-owned Salt Trading Corporation failed to distribute fertilizers evenly despite having sufficient stock. Last March, the government decided to import 935,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer for the next five years through G2G deal with the Government of India. However, there are doubts about its implementation. As the farming season is approaching, the contracted companies have not been able to import fertilizers even after the expiration of the contract period.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Farmers were also affected by natural calamities in 2078. The unseasonal rainfall from October 16 to 20 destroyed paddy crop planted in 111,069 hectares of land across the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 42,113 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 11.87 billion were destroyed at that time.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the &#39;Agriculture for Food&#39; campaign, also says that there were more negative impacts than positive ones for Nepali farmers and the overall agricultural sector in the year 2078 BS. According to him, it is unfortunate that the decision of the government to provide relief of Rs 5.52 billion to the affected farmers has yet to be implemented.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">The unseasonal rainfall caused a loss of over Rs 50 million to the flower business which was declared 90 percent self-sufficient. But the flower producers complained that the government has not addressed the issue so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Similarly, less than a year after the declaration of self-reliance, the poultry industry reached a state of crisis. Poultry farmers faced problems like rising prices of raw materials and medicines in the international market, recurring bird flu and epidemics such as Ranikhet, which even led to closure of some hatchery industries after most of the farmers stopped raising chickens. The price of meat went up to around Rs 400 per kg due to the decline in poultry production. Farmers complained that the government has not taken any active initiative to prevent and control the spread of bird flu in 14 districts so far.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Towards the end of the year, there was a good news for the agricultural sector. Impactors Women&#39;s Development Society, a group of 16 young women, developed a mobile app called &#39;Saathi&#39; which identifies and solves various problems encountered in agriculture through the use of artificial intelligence.</span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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FOREX

Currency	Unit	Buy	Sell
U.S. Dollar	1	121.23	121.83
European Euro	1	131.65	132.31
UK Pound Sterling	1	142.47	143.18
Swiss Franc	1	124.29	124.90
Australian Dollar	1	71.69	72.05
Canadian Dollar	1	83.90	84.32
Japanese Yen	10	10.94	11.00
Chinese Yuan	1	17.17	17.26
Saudi Arabian Riyal	1	32.27	32.43
UAE Dirham	1	33.01	33.17
Malaysian Ringgit	1	27.36	27.50
South Korean Won	100	9.77	9.82

Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)

Bullion

Fine Gold	1 tola	77000.00
Tejabi Gold	1 tola	76700.00
Silver	1 tola	720.00

Update : 2020-03-25

Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association

Petroleum

Petrol	1 Liter	106.00
Diesel	1 Liter	95.00
Kerosene	1 Liter	95.00
LP Gas	1 Cylinder	1375.00