MP Shahi seeks halt to apple imports to help Jumla growers find market

Gyanendra Shahi, parliamentary party leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and an MP, has urged the government to halt imports of foreign apples for as long as apples grown in Jumla, in Karnali Province, remain on the market. In a Facebook message written on Asoj 17, he addressed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane and made this demand.

The RSP had distributed Jumla apples to participants at the start of its central committee meeting. Shahi thanked Chair Lamichhane "many, many times" for helping to promote local produce. However, he said that although Jumla apples have already reached the market, farmers there have not been able to get a fair price for their produce. He noted that the government is led by the RSP, and that the Ministry of Agriculture and the agriculture minister are also from the RSP. He called for attention to the price problems faced by farmers.

He has requested Chair Lamichhane to stop foreign apple imports for as long as Jumla apples remain on the market. He said that if this demand is met, Jumla farmers will never forget Lamichhane's kindness. Stressing that domestic produce should be given priority, Shahi has urged the government to create an environment in which Jumla farmers' produce finds a proper market.