Kathmandu, August 15

MATO — a brand being launched by Golyan Agro Trade — is trying to assuage the concerns related to pesticide residue in fresh fruits and vegetables by providing organic vegetables at affordable rates.

According to Latika Golyan, managing director of Golyan Agro Trade, the company is formally launching its organic vegetables in Kathmandu Valley from Friday. “We will be bringing in organic vegetables from different parts of the country and selling it under our brand ‘MATO’.”

As chemical fertilisers are not used in organic farming, the harvest is comparatively lower while the market price of organic food is relatively higher. “But we are planning to offer our produce at the same rate as non-organic vegetables, as we will not be factoring the charge taken by middlemen,” she explained, adding the firm is primarily focused on promoting organic farming in the country and not aiming to make a profit.

The company, a sister organisation of Golyan Group, has collaborated with some major shopping centres in the capital and their produce will be available across over 30 outlets starting tomorrow.

The company has already started to build a cold storage in the Balaju Industrial Zone, with plans to build such facilities across the country as their business expands. “We will also establish agriculture processing zones and processing units in different parts of the country as per need,” she added.

To promote the brand, Golyan informed that mobile vans stocked with MATO produce will be deployed across the Valley after Dashain.

From last fiscal, the Golyan Group has been collaborating with Jhapa’s local farmers as part of its corporate social responsibility. “Apart from ensuring people have access to affordable and hygienic produce, we are also facilitating farmers to transform their farming methods so that their income increases too,” said Golyan.

As per the plan, the company will deliver five tonnes of organic vegetables per day to valley’s customers. After six months, they will increase the volume to 20 tonnes per day and 50 tonnes per day within one year.

“We plan to eventually export organic vegetables and fruits like strawberries, kiwis, avocados, apples and oranges within the ongoing fiscal year,” she added.

Earlier, the Golyan Group had bought 209 bighas of land in four different locations in Jhapa for commercial organic farming.

Golyan claimed that her company will ensure that farmers get deserving price for their produce. “Currently a lot of farmers are not receiving the price they are supposed to because of the involvement of middlemen, and we plan to end this practice too.”