Fruit growers of Namje village in Dhankuta district saw their earnings quadruple after a cold store was built in the nearby town of Dharan. The growers in question never knew their pears could be kept for months, and that they didn't have to rush to sell them to middlemen at throwaway prices or leave them to rot in the fields.
This autumn, they earned four times as much as they used to from their pear crop, thanks to the refrigerated warehouse set up by the Agricultural Commodity Market Management Committee in Dharan.
During the pear picking season in August, there is a plentiful supply of the fruit in Nepal’s markets, causing prices to drop to Rs15-20 (€0.11-0.14) per kg. Pears produced in Namje village of Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality were kept in cold storage for the first time which proved a tremendous benefit to local farmers.
