Yamnath Panta of Palpa is fond of locally produced Chyawanprash, a polyherbal jam that is prepared according to an Ayurvedic recipe, and enriched with several herbs and herbal extracts.

Panta of Hungi in ward 1 of Rambha Rural Municipality said he switched to locally made Chyawanprash as it is made using jaggery, unlike sugar used by commercial brands.

“It is nutritious,” he said. Like Panta, many people are supporting the locally produced Ayurvedic supplement famed for its immunity-boosting properties. “Though the taste of gooseberry is slightly stronger, the mix of other herbs is well-blended,” he said.

Chyawanprash production started here last year and since then it has found many local consumers.

It is an initiative of the health division of the rural municipality and Nagarik Arogya Kendra, a local organisation.

To encourage local production, the rural municipality produces Chyawanprash using gooseberry, honey, jaggery, and ghee, among other ingredients found locally.

Chyawanprash is made from 48 different types of herbs collected from the village, said Milan Acharya, chief of Nagarik Arogya Kendra of the rural municipality.

“We produced Chyawanprash using local ingredients. The local people were used for collecting, preparing spices from the collected herbs, cooking and packaging it,” said Acharya.

“The Chyawanprash that we buy in the market is made of sugar, but our product is made of jaggery,” said Acharya.

Chyawanprash was distributed to 554 senior citizens and people with disabilities in the rural municipality last winter as part of a promotional campaign. There are five wards in the rural municipality.

“The product distributed to senior citizens and people with disabilities to protect them from colds was worthy,” said Shiva Aryal, chief of the health division of the rural municipality.

“After receiving the feedback last year, we started production and distribution this year,” said Aryal. The product is organic and nutritious.”

They use local gooseberries that would otherwise be wasted in the village. “We mixed gooseberries with other herbs, all sourced locally,” said Aryal.

Ishwar Kaphle, chairman of the rural municipality, said that the senior citizens have found it beneficial for their health and are happy to consume it. “The feedback is so far satisfying,” he said.

“We expect it will soon find a market,” Kaphle said.

Last year, the rural municipality produced 400 kg of Chyawanprash. This year, around 500 kg has been produced.

While other chyawanprash brands sold in the market are costlier, ours is cheaper but of good quality.

According to Kaphle, Chyawanprash has been produced with a small investment. He said that there has been a positive impact on people’s health.

The rural municipality has allocated Rs350,000 for chyawanprash production.

“With the feedback and growing demand, the rural municipality is planning for commercial production,” Bhandari said. “We are in the process of conducting the lab tests of our product at the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, before starting commercial production.”

The locals said that once it goes into commercial production, it would help increase the consumption and eventually will support local people to grow herbs, gooseberry, ghee and other necessary ingredients.

Chyawanprash, a nutritious jam prepared from herbs based on Ayurvedic formula, is beneficial for health, said Dr Bibesh Poudyal, medical chief of Tahu Primary Health Center under Rambha Rural Municipality.