The hailstones coupled with rain occurred in Syangja has destroyed orange worth Rs 20 million plus in different areas of the district, according to the details collected from the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project, Project Implementation Unit (Orange Super Zone). The hailstones occurred in wards 10, 11, 13 and 14 of Putalibazar Municipality and Bhirkot Municipality-1 destroyed around 509 metric tons of oranges in the district.
Senior Agricultural Officer Madan Kumar Shrestha said that the hailstones occurred on October 7 in different areas of Putalibazar Municipality and other regions in the district caused severe damages to the orange productions this year. He added that the farmers in Putalibazar-10 were the worst hit from the hailstones.
Mukti Adhikari, a farmer of Rangkhola in Putalibazaar-10, said that around 80 per cent of his orange production yielded in 1,000 orange trees is damaged from the hailstone. “I sold some 29 metric tons of orange last year and the output was expected some 40 to 45 metric tons this year. But, the hailstones caused around Rs 3 million of damages to the oranges in the time of harvesting,” he lamented.
