April 3: The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had signed an agreement with the Department of Agriculture of China during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in October 2019 for the export of citrus fruits to China.

However, not a single citrus fruit has been exported to China so far. Due to the negligence of the Chinese government in the implementation of the agreement, citrus fruits could not be exported to China. Concerned authorities said that even though Nepal completed all the procedures to export citrus fruits to China in trial phase last year, Beijing did not show any interest in implementing the agreement on the pretext of growing Covid-19 cases.

Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Govinda Prasad Sharma said that China has not accepted citrus fruits from Nepal even though Nepal has met all the criteria including quarantine, proper management of diseases, and packaging. According to Sharma, Nepal has already registered the producers’ farms and also facilitated coordination between orange producers, traders and Chinese agents for the exports. However, the process did not move forward as the Chinese government did not agree for the export.

According to Sahadev Humagain, head of the Center for Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management, the process of export has not moved forward due to China’s reluctance citing the Covid-19 pandemic. Nepal completed all its preparations last year itself. Humagain said if China had agreed, exports of citrus fruits to China would have already started since last year.

Earlier, a similar agreement was signed between the two countries in 2012. The agreement at that time had a clause which stated that the fruits grown in disease-free, insect-free orchards. Exporters were expecting the trade to be easy this time as the fruits were required to be free from diseases and insects as mentioned in the agreement two years ago. However, China's tendency to negotiate and neglect implementation is seen to have complicated export procedures.

After the implementation of Sweet Orange Super Zone in Nepal in the fiscal year 2073/74, the number of farmers cultivating oranges has increased. Varieties of citrus fruits are produced mostly in the hill districts of Nepal including Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Doti, Dandeldhura, Baitadi, Okhaldhunga, Lamjung, Dhankuta and Palpa.

According to the National Citrus Development Program, Nepal produces about 177,000 metric tons of oranges, 39,500 metric tons of lemons and 43,000 metric tons of sweet oranges annually. Although citrus fruits are grown in about 56 districts of Nepal, commercial production is limited to 44 districts. Nepal's internal production meets 80 percent of domestic demand. The remaining 20 percent is imported from abroad.