Bajura, October 27

Bajura folks have been elated after SAPPROS, a non-governmental organisation, built a cold store for storing apples produced in the district.

The organisation built the cold store at the junction of Jukot and Pandusen VDCs in the district. “The cold store was built with the aim of storing apples that goes unsold in the market,” said Baikuntha Poudel, programme coordinator of the organisation in Bajura.

A huge quantity of apples produced in the district went to waste earlier due to absence of cold storage facility, according to local farmers. Apples grown in the villages of the district is sold in the district headquarters and Kolti bazaar.

“Earlier, we couldn’t export our produce to markets outside the district due to lack of cold storage facility. But we can now store the apples and transport them to outside markets,” said Pur Rawat of Pandusen.

However, another farmer Arjun Shahi said that unless there was a road access to the apple producing villages, merely storing their produce would not help them much. Some of the farmers make hooch from the unsold apples, while others feed them to the cattle.

According to District Agriculture Development Office, Bajura, production of apples had increased in the district this year compared to the previous years.

The office said apple is grown in 87 hectares of land in the district. “The villages could have prospered if the government guaranteed them access to outside markets for their produce,” said Kashi BK, chairman of Federation of Non-Government Organization, Bajura.