This year’s hail, wind, and heavy rain have caused major damage to lychee farming in Palungtar Municipality. The income of hundreds of farmers is in crisis after production dropped to almost zero due to bad weather during the main flowering season.
Wards No. 6, 7, and 8 of Palungtar Municipality are considered the main lychee production areas. In recent years, litchi farming has also expanded in Wards No. 4 and 5. Last year, 1,716 metric tons of lychee were produced from an area of ​​159 hectares in Palungtar.
According to Sankalp Neupane of the Palungtar Municipality Agriculture Branch, about 90 percent of production in the Palungtar area has decreased due to this year’s natural disaster, and about 30 percent of the plants have been completely damaged. According to him, farmers have suffered losses worth about Rs 50 million.
This year, hail and continuous rain during the sensitive flowering season have had a major impact on production, according to the Agriculture Branch. According to the municipality, about 600 farmers are directly and indirectly dependent on lychee cultivation, while commercial lychee cultivation is being carried out on an area of about 900 ropanis. In wards 6, 7, and 8 of the municipality, there are farmers who sell lychee for 25,000 to 2,500,000.
Palungtar Municipality has stated that coordination is being done with the Agricultural Knowledge Center Gorkha to provide relief to farmers affected by natural disasters and to increase lychee production within this municipality.
