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Betel nut farming is done in 4,054 hectares in five districts of Koshi Province. The annual production is around 15,000 tons. However, local farmers are facing difficulty in finding a market for their produce.

Local farmers say that they are not getting fair prices for their products. They say this leaves them with no option but to accept whatever prices are offered. While the government is encouraging farmers to invest in betel nut farming, they lament that the government is not doing the needful to find a market for their produce.

In the fiscal year 2022/23, Koshi Province produced 14,561 tons of betel nuts. But local farmers failed to secure a reasonable price for their crops.

Surendra Sah, who has been in the betel nut business for the past three decades in Arjundhara Municipality of Jhapa, blames government indifference for the farmers’ plight. “High-quality betel nuts are smuggled to India by middlemen. They then import nuts of inferior quality for distribution in Nepal,” Shah said. “Instead of promoting exports, the government appears to be encouraging betel nut imports. This has put the farmers in a precarious situation.”

Organizing a press conference recently, local farmers demanded that the government allow them to export betel nuts to buyers in third countries. They have threatened to launch protests if the government failed to address their concerns.

According to the Nepal Betel Nut Farmers Initiation Committee, over a million farmers are engaged in betel nut cultivation. They argue that the availability of imported betel nuts at low prices negatively affects local farmers’ income. Gita Prasad Adhikari, president of the committee, said that the local farmers should be allowed to sell betel nuts to buyers in third countries. “If our demands are not met, over a million farmers will take to the streets,” he warned.

Farmers face challenges

Dipendra Dhakal from Arjundhara-8, Jhapa, has betel nut plants covering all his land. His farm is located within the Betel Nuts Production Zone designated by the government. However, he faces difficulties when attempting to sell his produce in the market. Two years ago, security personnel harassed him, suspecting him of smuggling betel nuts. “The police demanded proof that these products were grown on my farm,” he recalled. “Betel nut production is good, and the demand in the market is also high. However, taking betel nuts to the market is a challenge.”

Due to such hassles, farmers like Dhakal often sell their betel nuts to buyers who approach their farms, even if the prices offered are low. Many of these buyers come from India.

Betel nut farming and trade in Nepal began before the 1990s. The trade centered in the bordering areas of Koshi Province. Indian traders used to come to Nepal to place orders for betel nuts grown in Nepal. But the situation has changed now. 

Kakarbhitta used to be the hub of betel nut trade in Nepal. There is still a street named ‘Supari (betel nut) Lane’ in Kakarbhitta. Today, betel nuts are no longer traded but are instead smuggled, according to locals.

Local residents claim that the government led by Baburam Bhattarai introduced stricter regulations for betel nut trade in January, 2011 by making certificate of origin mandatory for betel nut exports. Since then, Nepali farmers have been grappling with challenges.

According to the 1950 Treaty of Trade and Commerce between Nepal and India, Nepal cannot export goods imported from a third country to India. However, betel nuts imported from countries like Indonesia are being smuggled into India by Indian ‘couriers’ through routes like Mechi Bridge and the riverbanks.

The government initially tasked the Nepal Betel Nuts Farming Development Committee with issuing certificates of origin to betel nut farmers. However, a legal dispute over alleged discrepancies in the issuance of certificates led to a standstill in betel nut exports from Jhapa. Local farmers were left with unsold produce as traders exclusively focused on sending imported betel nuts to Indian markets.

“Traders are sending imported betel nuts to India, while our produce rots in warehouses due to a lack of buyers,” Radheshyam Neupane, a farmer from Arjundhara, lamented the situation.

Farmers in Jhapa insist that local production can meet domestic betel nut demand and are puzzled as to why the government allows betel nut imports. “Now that imports have been opened up, our betel nuts won’t find buyers,” Nilkanth Tiwari from the Betel Nut Zone in Jhapa said. Betel nuts, imported from third countries, are being smuggled into India from Nepal as the southern neighbor levies high import duty on betel nuts.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 116, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 116, 500 per tola on Monday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 115, 450 per tola. It was traded at Rs 115, 950.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,420 per tola today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 3.04 points to close at 1,878.70 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.18 points to close at 363. 13 points.

A total of 2,824,007-unit shares of 287 companies were traded for Rs 694 billion.

Meanwhile, Panchakanya Mai Hydropower Ltd was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 7. 82 percent. Likewise, Sonapur Minerals and Oil Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 89 trillion.

India has implemented a new energy rule that allows its distributors to include imported hydropower energy within the renewable energy quota allocated to them.

In a notification published in the Gazette on Oct 20, India’s Ministry of Power established a revised quota for renewable energy that distribution companies must adhere to, starting from the fiscal year 2024/25. This new quota comprises separate shares for wind, hydropower, distributed renewable energy, and other renewable sources.

As per the new rule, Indian energy distributors are required to source 29.91 percent of their total energy demand from renewable sources in 2024/25. The share will increase to 43.33 percent by 2029/30. The specific quota for hydropower has been set at 0.38 percent for 2024/25, with an increment to 1.33 percent by 2029/30.

“The hydropower renewable energy component may also be met from hydropower projects located outside India, as approved by the Central Government on a case-to-case basis,” the notification states. Previously, Indian energy distributors were allowed to count hydropower produced domestically to meet their hydropower purchase obligations (HPOs). Distributors who fail to meet the new HPOs may face penalties imposed by the government.

Kul Man Ghising, executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), welcomed the new rule and said that it would benefit Nepal and Bhutan as well as India. “We had long been requesting Indian officials to recognize imported energy within the HPO, and it has finally been implemented,” Ghising said. “This new rule, if effectively enforced, will create a promising market for our energy in India.”

NEA has been exporting surplus energy to India during the wet season. It has received permission to sell 522 MW in the Day-Ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Furthermore, it has been selling 110 MW to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd after reaching a five-year agreement with the Indian energy distribution company. NVVN is distributing energy imported from Nepal in the Haryana state. NEA has also received permission to export 44 MW, out of the 522 MW permitted for sale in the competitive market, in the Real TIme market of IEX.

Meanwhile, NEA exported electricity worth Rs 11.8bn to India from the second week of June to mid-October. NEA began its energy exports on June 11 this year. It sold electricity worth Rs 4.02bn in the month of mid-Sept to mid-Oct alone. Likewise, it sold energy worth Rs 1.75bn in mid-June to mid-July, Rs 2.14bn in mid-July to mid-Aug and Rs 3.47bn in mid-Aug to mid-Sept. 

The average unit price for the energy sold stood at Rs 10.27. Kul Man Ghising, Executive Director of NEA, projects that NEA could earn Rs 16bn by selling energy to India during the current fiscal year. The Indian cabinet has already decided to import 10,000 MW electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years.