JUMLA, SEPTEMBER 25

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that apples of Jumla are a special priority of the government from production to marketing.

Mentioning that the identity and importance of Jumli apples are distinct, he made it clear that the government is serious about supporting the farmers in terms of incentives, subsidized loans and marketing of the produced goods.

Finance Minister Sharma, who reached Jumla on Saturday to inaugurate the Gutichour Agrofarm located in Gutichour rural municipality-5 of Jumla, mentioned that the contribution of the agricultural sector is important to boost and strengthen the country's economy.

Stating that economic prosperity of the country is not possible without increase in agricultural production, Minister Sharma said since Karnali has the ability to support the entire country it is necessary to increase investment here.

'The economy of Jumla can be improved through apple, beans and walnut farming,' he said while accepting that lack of concrete policy and sufficient budget are barriers to harnessing the abundant potential in terms of agriculture, tourism and herbs in Karnali.

MP Gajendra Bahadur Mahat said that Gutichhour Agrofarm is Jumla's model which has created hundreds of jobs and started the agricultural revolution.

Owner Mim Bahadur Bhandari said that 33,000 apple saplings were planted in Gutichour Agrofarm, which started in four years ago with an investment of 130 million rupees. According to him, the target is to plant 50,000 saplings.