April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and China.

This market has been regularly bringing those items from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Gorkha, Navalparasi, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, and Dang districts.

Makwanpur contributes the most to the fruits and vegetables brought to the market from within the country. The Kalimati market has a daily turnover of Rs 40 million. The data shows that 17.77 percent of vegetables and fruits are imported from Makwanpur. In the same way, the lowest volume of fruits and vegetables arrive from Dang.

Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, said that apart from those districts, vegetables are also imported in small quantities from other districts. Since the quantity is very small, the committee does not keep separate data for this.

“Last year alone, vegetables were brought to Kalimati from more than 50 districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardia and Surkhet. However, since that amount was very small, we have kept its data under other headings," said Shrestha.

According to him, most of the vegetables are imported from the domestic market. Fish, potato and onion are imported in large quantities from India. Fruits, garlic and spices are imported from China.

Shrestha says Nepal has no choice but to rely on potatoes and onions from India. According to government data, 289,000 metric tons of onions and 3.3 million metric tons of potatoes are produced in Nepal. But this does not meet the domestic demand, and therefore the country has to import potatoes and onions from India.

When any vegetable or fruit reaches Kathmandu from the source district where vegetables and fruits are produced, its price increases up to 20 percent. Geeta Prasad Acharya, president of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Committee, said that when the product reaches the consumer, the price increases by 80 percent.

According to him, five percent of fruits and vegetables rot by the time they reach the Kalimati market from various districts. When the retailer buys from Kalimati and delivers it to the consumer, 8 to 10 percent is wasted. Adding to that the cost of transportation and labor costs, the price of fruits and vegetables can be much more expensive when they reach consumers than at the source. The cost of wasted fruits and vegetables will also be passed on to the consumer, so the price will be high.

According to the data provided by the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the share of vegetables in the total turnover is the highest at 85.41 percent. Fruits contribute 8 percent of the total turnover, spice 5.05 percent, fish 1.30 percent and other commodity turnover is 0.51 percent.

The Kalimati market, which has been operating since the last three decades, sells more than 115 types of goods including vegetables, fruits, spices, and fish.

Between 700 to 900 tons of vegetables and fruits are brought into the Kalimati market every day.