Farmer incomes in Parbat district in western Nepal have increased with sales of products made from hog plum, locally known as lapsi.

Thaneshwar Bhusal, owner of Samudayik Khadya Prasodhan Udhyog at Mudikuwa in Phalewas Municipality-5 spends his day outsourcing, managing, storing and processing the fruit.

The factory employs around a dozen persons for processing and packaging. Seasonal workers are also hired to pick and collect the fruits during peak season.

The factory was established more than two decades ago, but it only saw a sharp rise in demand for its products in recent years. Orders for candy, pickle, jam and other products made of hog plum have been coming in from both domestic and international markets.

“Lapsi products were sold mainly for domestic consumption in the past,” said Bhusal. “But international demand has been growing in recent years.”

Most farmers previously neglected the fruit as only a few locals used it to make souring agents, pickles and mada, a local candy, for domestic consumption.

“The fruits used to rot in the fields and forests,” said Bhusal, who founded Samudayik Khadya Prasodhan Udhyog with partner Rishikesh Tiwari.

Farmers started earning a decent income by selling their fruits to the processing factory. It is estimated that there are around 20,000 lapsi trees in Parbat, according to the district’s Agriculture Knowledge Centre.

“Each tree yields 1-5 tonnes of fruit per season,” said Manita Thapa, chief of the centre. “As the tree bears fruit continuously for many years, lapsi farming has become a dependable source of income for local farmers.”

The factory manufactured pickles and lapsi powder in the initial days of its establishment. Now its product range has widened to candy, chocolate, pickle, sour candy, jam and lapsi skin powder.

According to Bhusal, the factory processes more than 100 tonnes of lapsi every season. The factory gets its supply of raw materials not only from Parbat, but also from the neighbouring district of Baglung.

From the last four years, the factory has been exporting the lapsi products to the United States too, according to Bhusal. "Recently, we have also received orders for our products from South Korea, Japan and a few European countries," he said.

“We are receiving more orders every year,” said Bhusal. “Demand has outstripped supply as we have been unable to expand the production capacity of our factory.”

The company buys lapsi from locals at the rate of Rs50 per kg and also pays the transportation charge.

“I recently sold lapsi worth Rs150,000,” said Sabitri Rijal, a local from Bhangara in Phalewas-9. “Lapsi farming is not that difficult. If we can protect the saplings for five years, we can have a reliable revenue stream afterwards.”

Shiva Bhusal and Milan Kunwar from the same area claim to have earned more than Rs1.5 million from lapsi in the past eight months. Bhusal said demand for lapsi had increased in Kathmandu and Pokhara lately.

After the establishment of a processing factory, local farmers began planting lapsi saplings on slopy fields. They get the seedlings from the Agriculture, Forestry and Land Conservation departments besides commercial nurseries.

According to the Forest Division and Soil and Watershed Management Office, more than 10,000 lapsi saplings have been distributed annually in the district in the past decade.

“The factory alone has distributed more than 15,000 saplings so far,” claimed Bhusal.

Lapsi farming is increasing in most of the local municipalities in the district. Farmers earn Rs10,000 to Rs25,000 per tree every season.

“If we can grow 10 trees successfully, they will provide a lifelong income,” said Narayan Sapkota, a local from Rugdi, Phalewas-4. “The fruit used to go to waste previously, but now it has become a cash crop.”

Sapkota claimed to have made Rs125,000 from lapsi alone in one season.

The factory begins processing the fruits from November-end, and by mid-June the products are manufactured, labelled and stored.

The factory hires temporary workers during the six-month-long peak season. Besides lapsi, the factory also processes ginger, gooseberry, turmeric, maize, lemon and soybean to manufacture various products.