Tanahun : The Anbukhareni Rural Municipality in Tanahun district has opted for commercial avocado farming as an intervention to grow more agricultural produces for better livelihood options for the locals.

As part of ‘One Ward, One Production’, the rural municipality distributed a total of 1,840 avocado plants in its ward no. 2 by offering 75 per cent in subsidy to the farmers, chief administrative officer of the rural municipality Bishnu Prasad Sharma said.

The farmers were provided with the avocado plants as it starts yielding in three to five years and is profitable in terms of productions and market as well.

Likewise, the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in the district said that avocado farming is kept in priority in the district under the fruits areas development programme. The Centre has also grown avocado saplings from last year.

The avocado farming could be done from 200 metres to 1,600 metres above the sea level and the district’s climate and land’s altitude is appropriate for growing avocado. Chairman of Anbukhareni Rural Municipality Shukra Chuman said that avocado farming was started in the rural municipality by utilizing the barren land to ensure income of local beneficiaries and grow local productions.

The farmers get competitive price of avocado in the local market and also its demand is still high in the hospitality sector.