Nepal’s citrus industry struggles against climate change

Jan 20, 2025

Sindhuli (Nepal), Jan 19 (ANI): From November to mid-March, farmers in Golanjor Municipality, Sindhuli District, typically harvest Junar (sweet oranges). However, for 40-year-old Bal Kumari Thapa, this season now stirs bitter memories and growing anxiety. Her once-thriving citrus orchards, a key source of income, have been reduced to ashes, a casualty of rising global temperatures and shifting climate patterns. The income from citrus fruit sales once sustained her household, but that lifeline disappeared half a decade ago when she was forced to burn down her entire orchard. The vibrant greenery that once adorned her front yard just five years ago has completely vanished. The cheerful chirping of birds and the fragrant aroma of pollen that once filled her 18 Ropani (9,157.27 square meters) orchard have given way to a desolate landscape, with only a few scattered patches of shrubs remaining. The orchard, which was once home to 2,500 trees, had to be entirely destroyed due to a devastating citrus greening epidemic, a vector-borne disease that strikes without warning and rapidly spreads through the area. She shared a deep bond with the trees in her orchard, planted in 2005, a year before her marriage brought her to Sindhuli. After moving to this district, renowned for its Junar (sweet oranges), Thapa dedicated long hours to nurturing the saplings, helping them grow into strong, fruitful trees. However, the orchard fell victim to Huanglongbing, also called citrus greening—a destructive disease that devastates citrus crops. Thapa’s orchard was one of many impacted by this outbreak, which has affected several of Nepal’s key citrus-producing regions. Devi Thakuri, another Junar farmer, recalls how her orchard played a vital role in supporting her family—raising her children, funding their education abroad, and arranging their marriages.