Farmer Lok Bahadur Ale in Sindhuli had stored around 22 tonnes of sweet oranges he harvested in November and now he is reaping its benefits.

Ale of Golanjor Rural Municipality-4 is selling the sweet orange at Rs120 per kg, double the November rates, thanks to a cold storage facility.

He has built a small cold storage at his home and now he is not worried about his fruits rotting. “There is no problem with selling the fruit at a cheaper price either,” Ale said. “It is for the first time I have sent the sweet oranges to the market during the Nepali new year and it’s during an off-season.”

Farmers in the district, who had stored sweet oranges, have started making handsome earnings.

The sweet oranges, whose prices range from Rs50 to Rs60 per kg in the season, have seen prices jump to Rs120 to Rs140 per kg, according to Ale. The retailers even sell them at Rs180 to Rs200 per kg.

It costs Rs25 per kg to store the sweet oranges at mini cold storages for a period of three months.

There are six small cold storage facilities in the district. They were built with 70 percent, or Rs 350,000 financial assistance from the Sweet Orange Super Zone Programme of the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project.

Ale also stores his fruit in other cold storages, besides his own.

The citrus fruit is cultivated on 1,345 hectares in Sindhuli which lies in Nepal's eastern mid-hills. Last year, the district produced 8,881 tonnes of sweet oranges.

Sweet orange trees start bearing flowers in April and the farmers start harvesting the fruit in November.

Ale said he made a profit of Rs1.1 million through sale of the citrus fruit. “I could send almost 99 percent of sweet oranges to the market,” said Ale.

Surendra Thakuri, another sweet orange farmer, sold most of his harvest two and a half months ago.

Thakuri, who has stored only around 3 tonnes of sweet oranges, is now regretting.

“I feared they would rot if stored for a longer period,” said Thakuri. “But now, it seems we can store them for three months.”

Another farmer, Bir Bahadur Thapa from Golanjor Rural Municipality-5 was able to sell around 7 tonnes of sweet oranges for more than Rs 1 million.

“Private cold storages seem to be more effective because of a greater sense of ownership,” said Thapa. “In case of disruption of power, you can supply electricity through a generator.”

Around 16 tonnes of sweet oranges can be stored in a mini cold storage.

“Most of the farmers, however, stored less than their rated capacity, fearing that their produce would rot,” said Ramesh Humagain, chief of the Sweet Orange Super Zone programme. “It seems, the mini cold storage facilities are more effective than the big ones.”