Climate change’s effects on the decline in orange production
In Myagdi, 810 hectares of land are used for the commercial cultivation of oranges. Of the orange crop, only 425 hectares produce fruit. According to Sanjeev Bastola, head of the Agricultural Knowledge Center in Myagdi, the impact of rising temperatures on orange cultivation has been felt. He recommended that before planting orange orchards, farmers should test the soil, climate, and weather. In addition, the old orchards should be watered, fertilized, and treated with herbicide after the fruits are harvested. Maubaphant resident Hari Subedi claimed that in recent years, orange trees planted for domestic use have ceased to produce fruit. He claimed that the effects of rising temperatures and more acidic soil have decimated the orange trees in Maubaphant.
The elevation of Maubaphant is between 1,200 and 1,400 meters above sea level. Phulbari, Dulepani, and Bukl are higher up than Maubaphant, and orange cultivation has recently begun to improve there. Mauwaphant oranges, which were once popular and in great demand, are now extinct, according to Subedi. The district’s total yield has gone up despite the reduction in the production area. Myagdi’s orange production increased by 25% this year, thanks to new orchards, good weather, and effective disease and pest management, compared to the previous year. The PM’s Agricultural Modernization Project, Agricultural Knowledge Center, and local branches provide orange farmers with seeds, technical training, orchard management, irrigation, and marketing.
