Madhav Bahadur Kunwar of Makaitar in Panauti-10 has chopped down a number of orange trees in his orchard for firewood as the crop yields had dropped significantly.

He had planted 400 saplings four decades ago and they are now too old to bear fruits.

“As the trees in my orchard started dying, one after another, I decided to chop some of them to use them as firewood,” said the 72-year-old farmer.

Inspired by Madhav’s success, many farmers like Mansara Kunwar, Sudarshan Kunwar and others in Makaitar had started orange farming decades ago.

Madhav used to make up to Rs300,000 annually from his farm yields. But after 2015, the output at his orchard began to drop drastically.

Like Madhav, many farmers in Kavre have been distressed by the decline in orange output, one of their key sources of income.

The declining orange crop yields have been palpable since 2015.

Many wards in Panauti Municipality, Dhulikhel Municipality, Namobuddha Municipality and Banepa Municipality have been declared orange pocket areas, according to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Kavre. These areas are currently facing problems.

“The oranges used to be shiny, attractive and large, until 2015,” said Madhav. “But, now the fruit is small in size and has lost its taste.”

In Acharya village of Panauti, orange grower Kalyani Adhikari is disappointed.

His annual earnings have declined to Rs20,000 from Rs300,000. Adhikari’s crop is suffering from the disease which makes fruits fall before they get ripened.

She carried out soil and plant tests a decade ago. “The technicians rarely visit us,” said Adhikari.

The farmers at Sunthan in Panauti-9 have a similar story to share.

“Orange farming was a major income source for the farmers. Farmers here build new houses and send their children to schools from the earning of oranges,” said Sagar Raut, another orange grower. “I used to earn as much as Rs1.3 million a year selling oranges.”

Raut said his income has now dropped to Rs85,000.

The farmers did not have any problems of such magnitude seven years ago.

Agricultural technicians say ageing plants and poor maintenance of orchards are to be blamed for the diseases and the fall in production.

Anisha Acharya, an agricultural technician at Panauti Municipality, said the orange production in the different municipalities in Kavre has been in the declining phase for the past five to seven years.

“A few tests carried out on some wards have shown that most of the trees have turned old and lack nutrients,” said Acharya. “The farmers have not maintained their orchards properly.”

“The cultivation of crops such as potatoes, maize and climber plants in the orchard too, has been affecting the plant roots. As tractors are used on the lands, that may have affected the orange plants,” Acharya added.

Mostly Dhankute and Terhathume oranges are grown in the district, according to Umesh Sapkota, horticulture development officer at the centre. Besides the reduction in production, the incidents of diseases affecting the fruits have increased as well.

“The federal and provincial governments have put forward programmes to improve and promote orange production,” said Sapkota.

While the Bagmati Province has allocated Rs5 million to promote orange farming for the current fiscal year beginning mid-July, the federal government has set aside Rs1 million for the improvement of nurseries producing different varieties of orange saplings.

While 8,520 tonnes of oranges were produced in the district in the fiscal year 2020-21, the production dropped to 6,514 tonnes in the last fiscal year, according to the data of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Kavre.