January 29: The import of oranges has increased in this fiscal year compared to last fiscal year. Nepal has imported oranges worth more than Rs 570 million in the first six months of the current fiscal year.

According to the data of the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported 83,17,629 kilograms of oranges worth Rs Rs 570 million in the review period.

Compared to the same period of last fiscal year, the import of oranges has increased by 64 percent in terms of value and 41 percent in terms of quantity this year.

In the corresponding period of last fiscal year, Nepal imported 58,76,860 kg of oranges worth Rs 348 million.

Nepal imported oranges mostly from India, South Africa and China.

In the last six months, Nepal imported most of the oranges from India. The country imported 79,02,991 kg of orange worth Rs 514.7 million from India. Similarly, 364,648 kg of oranges have been imported from South Africa worth Rs 53 million. Similarly, 49,990 kg of oranges worth Rs 5.8 million have been imported from China.

While the country has been importing oranges worth millions of rupees from far-away countries, the farmers of rural areas of Nepal a struggling to supply oranges to the market due to the poor condition of roads.

A recent news report published by the state-owned RSS says that the farmers of of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road.

The farmers complained that transporting oranges in small vehicles increases the time and cost of the product.