Demand for saplings up in Jhapa

BANIYANI(JHAPA): The District Forest Office, Jhapa plans to distribute 950 thousand saplings of different varieties of plants this fiscal year.

The office will be distributing saplings of teak, Malaysian Sal (shorea robusta), mahogany, among other species free of cost.

Assistant Forestry Officer Devendra Uprety said 950 thousand saplings have already been grown at 14 nurseries in the district and the distribution of saplings has been started from this week.

The office plans to carry out sapling plantation in 115 hectares area in the district this year. It is said the office received Rs 7.2 million grant for producing the saplings for free distribution.

"The cost of producing a single sapling comes to be around eight rupees," Uprety said. He added that the demand for saplings has been increasing in the district every year.

According to him, the office distributed 700 thousand saplings in the fiscal year 2015/16 and 850 thousand in the fiscal year 2016/17.