Village sells potato seeds worth Rs. 24 million

By Arjun Kafle,Syangja, Nov. 27: Potato seeds worth Rs. 24 million have been sold from a single village in Galyang Municipality-11, Jimuhan. In Jimuhan, where there are 284 households, one household has sold potato seeds ranging from 10 quintals to 275 quintals.

Rumlal Kandel, chairman of cold storage, has alone sold 275 quintals of potatoes seeds worth Rs. 2.2 million. Stating that potato seeds are sold at Rs. 80 per kg, Kandel said that the farmers have earned a good income by operating cold storage in the village with the cooperation of villagers.

With the operation of cold storage in the village, there was ease for the farmers to store potatoes and earn good income. Earlier, there was problem for the farmers to take locally produced potato seeds to other places for storage.

A cold storage of 150 tonnes capacity has been constructed here at a cost of Rs. 11.7 million with the grant of the World Bank and investment of irrigation and water resources management, government of Nepal.

After the capacity of the first cold store was become low, another cold store was constructed with the support of Rs. 15.2 million from Prime Minister Modernisation Project, Project Implementation Unit (Orange Superzone), and 300 tonnes of potato seeds were systematically stored.

Stating that the farmers have been financially enriched by keeping potato seeds in cold storage, Kandel said that as the potatoes stored here are good, there is a demand for seeds from all parts of the district.

Potato is being cultivated in around 150 hectares of land in Jimuhan. Farmers here had stored potatoes at a cost of Rs. 7 per kg in cold storage. 

Last year alone, the farmers of that area sold potatoes, including seeds worth Rs. 30 million.