Syangja farmers shift to high-value commercial crops

Farmers in Syangja are moving away from grain crops toward commercial farming, according to reports from the district this week. Some have turned to bananas and flowers, while traders are bringing apples from Jumla straight to residents' doors.

Banana cultivation gains ground

In Chapakot-10, farmer Prem Narayan Pangeni has steadily expanded his banana farm. According to Gorkhapatra and Thaha Khabar, he started with 100 plants on a single ropani and now farms bananas on 61 ropanis. Thirteen of those ropanis are his own, and the rest is mortgaged or leased land. The reports put the number of plants at 6,100, although Pangeni himself gave a figure of 6,200 for the whole farm. He has dropped the G9 variety and now grows only the local Malbhog banana.

Pangeni said 2,200 of his plants are bearing fruit at the moment and bring in more than Rs 1.1 million a year. He said he switched from rice and maize because bananas were easier to grow and in high demand. Once all his plants bear fruit, he aims to earn more than Rs 3 million a year.

Floriculture and market competition

Commercial flower farming is also spreading across the district. Gorkhapatra reported that farmers are taking it up because monkeys, which damage other crops, leave flowers alone, and because flowers sell easily. As local production has grown, the district has gradually stopped bringing in flowers and garlands from India, Butwal and Pokhara for Tihar and other occasions. It now sends its own to those markets.

According to Nepal News, Chandra Rana of Galyang-5 and six other farmers grow marigolds on two ropanis each, at sites in Galyang Municipality and Kaligandaki Rural Municipality. They share advice and pool their flowers when orders come in. Their flowers sold in Pokhara before Dashain, and they are preparing to sell in Butwal for Tihar. Farmers said competition from flowers brought in from India sometimes keeps them from getting a fair price.

Bringing Jumla apples to the doorstep

Syangja residents are also buying apples from farther afield. Onlinekhabar and Ratopati reported that a team of traders, including businessperson Gauri Lal Sanjyal, trucks apples from Jumla to Pokhara. From there, they take them by jeep from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in Syangja, Tanahun, Lamjung, Parbat and Palpa.

Sanjyal said Jumla's apples often used to rot because growers could not get them to market, and that his team started selling door to door to build a market for domestic fruit. Selling at Rs 150 per kilogram, they sell hundreds of crates a day, he said. He added that buyers find the apples cheaper than imported ones and free of pesticides, and that many call back to order more.