Ilam-grown kiwi fruit saplings are being exported to Bhutan in increasing numbers. The export of the saplings saw a steady rise after the Bhutan government encouraged farmers to engage in kiwi farming. According to Devindra Shahu, chief of plant quarantine in Jhapa, a total of 1,200 saplings were exported since the beginning of the current fiscal year 2021/22.
200 saplings were imported from India in the fiscal year 2018/19 and 100 in 2017/18. “It is a good thing that kiwi saplings are being exported to India and Bhutan lately,” said Shahu. Earlier, Nepal had been importing kiwi’s from India.
Kiwis are commercially cultivated across 20,000 hectares in Ilam. Its cultivation had been started in Ilam a decade back. The History Kiwi Pvt Ltd has been growing kiwi saplings and exporting them to India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh claimed History Kiwi Pvt Ltd’s proprietor Parbati Khatiwada.
