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The price of gold has continued to drop in the domestic market.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal has dropped by Rs 400 and is being traded at Rs 173, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 173, 800 per tola on Monday.

The price of gold, which dropped by Rs 1, 900 per tola on Sunday, fell by Rs 700 per tola on Monday.

On Friday, the last trading of the week, the price of gold dropped by Rs 3, 900 per tola.

On April 13, gold hit a record high of Rs 180, 300 per tola.  

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 830 per tola today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 32. 45 points to close at 2, 670.94 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 3. 85 points to close at 446. 23 points.

A total of 10,014,866-unit shares of 322 companies were traded for Rs 5. 65 billion.

Meanwhile, Butwal Power Company Limited (BPCL) was the top gainer today with their price surging by 6. 75 percent. Likewise, Himalayan Power Partner Ltd. (HPPL) the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 35 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 43 trillion.

Farmers in the northern region of Sarlahi, known as a major tomato-producing area, have stopped harvesting their tomatoes due to a dramatic fall in market prices. With rates dropping as low as Rs 2 to 4 per kilogram, many farmers say it is no longer worth picking the produce.

Tomatoes are now rotting in the fields, according to local farmers who are frustrated by the lack of market value. “At this price, we can’t even recover our investment,” said Parikshan Mahato, a farmer from Dharatol, Harion Municipality-3. He said the initial market response was encouraging, but prices dropped steeply after tomatoes imported from outside the region flooded the market. “We’ve spent a lot on plowing, planting, and labor. But now, the cost of transporting tomatoes to the market is more than what we get from selling them,” Mahato said. “Even hiring laborers to pick the tomatoes costs money.”

The situation has become so dire that villagers have started picking tomatoes from the fields for their own consumption, said another farmer, Kamal Mahato. “It’s better to let them rot in the field than spend more money trying to sell them,” he said. “This year, it’s been impossible to even recover the production cost.” According to Kamal, tomato crates that used to sell for Rs 2,500 to 3,000 at the start of the season now struggle to fetch even Rs 50. “Our markets are Lalbandi, Nawalpur, and Hariban. But even here, imported tomatoes have taken over,” he added.

Sarlahi-grown tomatoes are usually sold in major cities including Kathmandu and Pokhara. However, with low demand and rising supply from other regions, local farmers say they are left with no option but to abandon their harvests.

Similarly, in Dhading, a district just outside the federal capital Kathmandu, cabbage farmers are now doing the unthinkable—destroying their harvest. In a heart-wrenching scene along the Prithvi Highway near Trishuli riverside in Gajuri, heaps of cabbages lie discarded, chopped and abandoned. These are the same cabbages that could have turned into delicious meals in households across the country. Instead, they’ve become a symbol of despair for the farmers who nurtured them with care and hard labor.

“We raised these cabbages like our own children, investing so much time and money,” said one distressed farmer. “But when it came time to sell, there was no price. We were forced to destroy them in the field.” Even when farmers pleaded with traders to buy the cabbage at just Rs 2–4 per kilogram, they were turned down. With no option left, many resorted to cutting the cabbages and using them as organic fertilizer. “Had the government stepped in to guarantee a fair price, we wouldn't be in this mess,” the farmers said, adding that the pressure of crop loss has brought stress and tension into their families, especially for those who had taken loans to grow the produce.

Now, as they clear out the fields of unsold cabbage, many farmers are preparing to plant chaite rice instead. “Last year, we earned up to Rs 200,000 from cabbage sales. This year, we barely made Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000,” one farmer said. Some had invested up to Rs 70,000 in cabbage farming—all of which has now gone to waste.

Ironically, while around 33 percent of the vegetables sold in Kathmandu come from Dhading, Nepal imported over Rs 35bn worth of green vegetables from India last year. Farmers here question how local produce grown with such hard work is left to rot while foreign vegetables dominate the market.

The Hetauda Cement Industry has resumed production from today after a gap of nearly five months.

It is said that cement production, which was halted due to lack of electricity required for the industry, has resumed with the supply of electricity.

Officiating General Manager of the Industry, Nabin Kumar Karna, said that the industry needs eight megawatts of electricity per day to crush limestone.

Currently, 1,900 metric tons of coal required by the industry has been kept in stock. In the second phase, preparations are underway to procure about 4,000 metric tons of coal through the bidding process, Karna said.

The factory, established at Lamsure of Hetauda in 2033 BS, was inaugurated after a decade in 2043 BS. At that time, Rs 1.5 billion was invested in the Hetauda Industry.

At present, 195 people are currently employed in the administrative, trade, accounts, store, technical and labor units of the industry.

Although the Industry has a capacity to produce 18,000 sacks of cement per day, it is currently producing only 12,000.