Increasing imports of agro-products via Kakadbhitta checkpoint

JHAPA, JULY 23 : The import of millet via the Kakadbhitta checkpoint has increased by 1,762 metric tonnes in the last fiscal year. Information Officer at the Plant Quarantine Office, Kakadbhitta, Chandra Kishor Thakur, informed that Nepal imported 17,797 tonnes of millet from India in 2023/24. The imported products amounted to Rs 854 million.

In the previous fiscal year, 2022/23, 16,035 metric tonnes of millet worth Rs 513 million were brought into the country.

As the cultivation of millet declined sharply in Nepal, its import from India and other countries has been growing in recent years, Thakur added.

Not only millet, but the import of vegetables is also on a steady rise. Although a large amount of pumpkin is produced in the hilly districts of Nepal, the market is full of imported pumpkins.

In the last fiscal year, Nepal imported pumpkins worth Rs 211 million. A total of 5,075 metric tonnes of pumpkin was brought in from India via the Kakadbhitta border point.

The story of imports does not end there. Last year, Nepal spent Rs 1.2 billion importing 51,113 metric tonnes of tomatoes and Rs 295 million on 14,787 metric tonnes of green chillies.

Similarly, a total of 15,029 tonnes of okra was brought from India, which cost over Rs 300.5 million.

Interestingly, even buckwheat, which can be produced from the southern plains to the hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal, is imported in large quantities via this border. Information Officer Thakur said over Rs 13 million was spent importing 209 metric tonnes of buckwheat.

Livestock feed is another item on the list. A total of 1,443 metric tonnes of cattle feed costing Rs 46 million was brought in via the Kakadbhitta border point in the last year alone.

The import of fruits and rice combined cost Rs 4.87 billion. Pulses (legumes) are another essential import for Nepali cuisine.

"The imports of foreign agricultural products are growing, but such products grown domestically have not enjoyed access to the market, thus becoming waste products," experts say, adding, "This is really ironic for a country like Nepal, said to be based on agriculture."