Ilam. Karanbir Limbu, a farmer of Mangsebung Rural Municipality-2 in Ilam, started commercial avocado farming five years ago. Limbu, who started avocado farming by registering ‘Yonghang Agriculture and Livestock Farm’, planted 200 avocados in 20 ropanis of land where the crop is grown.

Initially, he spent a lot of money on buying saplings, building trenches, manure, and irrigation management. The avocado plants also grew well. The avocado plants, which started blooming last year, also started bearing fruit this year, but when the avocado plants that were bearing fruit suddenly started drying up and dying, Limbu became worried. He was worried when the plants started dying during the main producing season. Limbu said that the avocado plant started bearing fruit, the leaves yellowed, the branches dry up and the whole plant died.

The disease suddenly appeared in his avocado orchard, which was expecting a good income. Most of the plants he planted in the garden have started dying. He said that although the plants grew well in the initial years, he was worried when the plants started dying during the production period. In 2078 B.S., he bought an avocado sapling at the rate of Rs 200 per plant from Pakhrabas of Dhankuta.

“I had brought 200 avocado saplings at the rate of Rs 200 per plant from Pakribas of Dhankuta in 2078 BS and planted them in the cultivable fields,” he said, adding, “I had started yielding good fruits from this year. ”

He said that the avocado seeds with lottery fruit are falling off and the plants are dying. Limbu, who has started commercial avocado farming on the land where the grain crop is grown, is worried that millions of rupees will be lost if the plant dies.

According to him, in the beginning, there is a problem of yellowing of leaves in the lower part, weakening of branches and drying up of the entire plant. “The plants had grown well and started bearing fruit from this year,” he said, “The leaves of the trees have started dying one after the other.” He is worried about how to recover the initial investment. ”

He said that there has been a huge investment in avocado farming, from the purchase of saplings to the preparation of land and fertilizer management. He said that the plants that were grown for five years and started producing produce have started dying, causing a loss of millions.

At present, avocados are being sold at Rs 100 to Rs 150 per kg in Ilam. The farmers of Ilam have started cultivating avocados leaving other traditional farms as they get good market prices and can be produced for a long time once the orchards are established.

Experts say that vitamins and minerals are found in sufficient quantities in avocado. According to experts, an avocado contains 64 calories. It contains five grams of fat, three to four grams of carbohydrates, less than one gram of sugar, and three grams of fiber. Avocado contains vitamins C, E, K, B. Also, avocado is considered completely healthy because it contains riboplavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium and potassium.

It can be cultivated up to an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level. Since the saplings have been growing for four to five years, farmers have started making it a regular source of income by planting avocados in the plains as well as in Pakhobari and Kanla.