By Our Correspondent
Sankhuwasabha, Oct 3: It is already Dashain, but Rudrakshya trader Arjun Neupane is busy for harvesting beads (Rudrakshya) he purchased from the locals.
He is busy collecting and processing Rudrakshya in which they have invested hundreds of thousands rupees on an contract basis.
Not only Neupane, all Rudrakshya traders are busy managing their yields instead of celebrating Dashain.
The traders will face huge losses if they do not collect it in this harvesting period, so the traders are busy collecting the items, said traders.
They have to spend more time for picking, warming and cleaning Rudrakshya, they said.
“We have to give priority for the management of Rudrakshya as it is a time of collection and storage,” trader Neupane said.
There will be high chance of theft if they delay collecting the ripe Rudrakshya, he said.
Another trader Santosh Kulung said that the quality of Rudrakshya will be reduced if delayed to collect and clean in time.
“To preserve quality, we have to keep Rudrakshya in warm five days and clean it using brush thereafter,” he said.
He said that it would take at least 15 days to make ready to sell by completing cleaning and process.
According to him, they would earn profit if they spent required time for its collection and storage in harvesting season.
They said that they were facing skilled manpower to collect and wash it properly.
“Skilled manpower is required to climb plant to collect Rudrakshya and clean them. But we have failed to get skilled manpower,” said trader Santosh Yonjan.
Yonjan said that they have to wait the customers to sell quality Rudrakshya as it was difficult to give quality Rudrakshya to all.
They would face huge losses if someone steals only 23-30 pieces, he said, adding that the penta-angle Rudrakshya sells at Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 1,500,000 per kilogram.

More than 50 Rudrakshya traders are in Sankhuwasabha district, said Chakra Bahadur Bisnukne, President of Rudraksha Entrepreneurs Association of Sankhuwasabha.
Almost all traders are taking Rudrakshya trees in contact for a certain period, he said.
He said that the traders used to give money in lump sum to the farmers for signing an agreement of Rudrakshya trees which gives quality yield.
According to him, the trades are taking a tree on a contact by paying Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 15 million for a year.