Som Bahadur Ale of Chidipani spends most of his time caring for his dragon fruit plants.

Ale, a retired Indian army soldier, started farming dragon fruit after watching YouTube videos and with the help of his son, Manu Ale.

His son previously worked in Kenya where he was introduced to a dragon fruit farm. After returning home, Manu bought plants from nurseries in Kathmandu and other cities.

Both father and son started with 500 plants 18 months ago on three ropanis.

“We earned more than Rs300,000 in the first harvest. We produced more than 3 tonnes,” said Manu.

“At first, we were a bit sceptical as they were new to us. The market was another issue. But having seen its attractive returns, we added 100 more plants.”

“The return from dragon fruit farming is four times more than the cereal grains we used to grow.”

The fruits are sold in nearby markets such as Tansen, Arya Bhanjyang, Damkada, Kaseni and so on.

Manu sells the white variety (white flesh and pink skin) of dragon fruit for Rs500 a kg and the red variety (red flesh and pink skin) for Rs600 per kg.

To grow the fruit, the farmer needs to erect a pillar for every four plants to support them. The plants grow their vines and bear fruits on them.

Each plant produces up to 30 fruits in a season. The plants start yielding fruits within a year of plantation.

Several other local farmers such as Sandip Adhikari, Bharat GC, Tek Bahadur Raskoti, Tara Pandey and Hiranya Raj Regmi in the local villages of Kaji Pauwa, Thimure, Kachal, Rupse and Rampur have planted more than 3,500 plants of the exotic fruit.

Most of them have recently had their first harvest and they are optimistic about good production in the second lot as well.

They have planted both white and red varieties of dragon fruit.

The white variety of dragon fruit grows and yields fruits faster as compared to the red variety but the red one fetches a higher rate in the market.

Most of the farmers learnt how to farm dragon fruit with the help of the internet.

The farmers say that they have no trouble selling their fruits.

“At first, the villagers were surprised to see the new variety of fruit, but after I made them taste it, they started buying the fruit,” said Raskoti.

According to Raj Kumar Panthi, chief of Mathagadhi Rural Municipality-1, the local government is in the process of providing production-based subsidies for farmers to encourage the farming of exotic fruits like dragon fruit.

Kamana Bhattarai, chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Palpa, said dragon fruit is easier to sell in department stores and fruit shops as it's new and attractive to buyers.

Dragon fruit is a cactus species fruit originating in Mexico. It grows in hot and dry areas. It has a sweet and sour taste.