Driving along the scenic hill roads of Dhankuta towards Patale, a garden arrives – it cannot be missed, and makes for a perfect spot to take an Instagram photo. The garden features several avocado trees on one side, and a small but cosy house on the other.

Staring at the trees, we cannot believe our luck – we are in Dhankuta to research the booming avocado agro-industry, and lo and behold, there is a whole plantation ahead of us.

We take the stone steps that lead us to the house and are greeted by a warm personality – a Mr. Shyam Prasad Wagle. He is a lecturer at Dhankuta Multiple Campus, a PhD holder in ‘Adoption and diffusion of agricultural innovation in the Eastern Hills of Nepal’, and a farmer. Smiling, and taking us along a tour of his farm which features avocados, ginger, cinnamon, he tells us that he will talk to us in the capacity of a farmer – and keenly shares with us his experience.

Mr. Wagle has 175 avocado trees in his farm – all in different stages of growth. His oldest tree, which still yields fruit is of a ‘Hass’ avocado type.

“In 1992, my uncle Uddhav Prasad Wagle, who used to work at the Pakhribas Agricultural Centre, gave me a seed from a tree which was planted by British researchers. I planted them, and till date, they produce Hass avocados which are in average 300-350 grams weight”.

Today he has five varieties of Hass avocados in his farm.

How did he become an expert on avocados?

While Wagle did extensive research on Avocados (mostly via internet and discussions with fellow avocado experts when abroad in the US), his knowledge took the shape of expertise after implementing gained knowledge to his farm. Initially, he researched upon the kind of soil needed for avocados, distance between two trees, time to plant the saplings, and what kind of manure to provide, and then monitored the results of the experiment to make his farm better.

For example, he tells us that there is a right time to plant the sapling too. “You should not take the seed of a fruit plucked in the early harvest season, you have to let the fruit reach its maturity – around after Tihar (November), and then plant it for best results”, he shares with us.

“Similarly, you need to provide at least 5 – 7 metres distance between two trees”, he adds.

Commercial prospect of Avocados:

Mr. Wagle believes avocados have big potential in Dhankuta. “Avocado is a hugely profitable business. For example, before pursuing avocado farming, our family used to plant fresh vegetables – which used to provide us an annual income of around NRS 7,000. However, with avocados, I have been able to earn up to NRS 200,000 in a year”, he shares his excitement about the prospect of the fruit.

“If a farmer is able to plant only three trees – but with knowledge about the fruit and the tree (type, soil, manure etc), s/he can easily earn up to NRS 250,000 to 300,000 from the yield”, he tells us.

“Plus we can always plant fresh vegetables at the base of the tree”, he adds.

Dhankuta’s data on avocado farmers:

According to Wagle, as per current data, there are 126 avocado farmers in Dhankuta Municipality. Of the 126, 75 are commercial avocado farmers, whereas the remaining 51 are part time avocado farmers. Furthermore, there are several nurseries raising avocado saplings, and 12 farmers are also involved in delivering avocados from Dhankuta to Kathmandu and other metropolitan areas.

Challenges ahead:

“The demand for the fruit is so high, there should not be a problem of its marketisation”, Wagle tells us when asked about challenges. “However, there are other challenges”, he explains.

“A major challenge is to educate farmers about the types of avocados the farmers are raising. Training on commercial avocado farming is also necessary”, he tells us at the same time informing us that the local administration is working on that sector.

“Another challenge is lack of support from the central and the federal government. You see, lots of farmers are lured by the commercial prospects – but, avocados have a weak immune system. For example, what if a farmer loses all his plants to pests?” he directs the question to us.

“There has to be government assurance for farmers to encourage them to plant more trees”.

“We also need to work towards product standardisation. There has to be some sort of grading process, which will help farmers realise the value of their crop”, he adds.

Mr. Wagle also shares the need for a processing plant. He shares an example wherein a local nursery bought ten quintals of fruit from local farmers for saplings. After extracting the seed, there was not much the nursery could do with the fruit. They then gave it to the officers of the army barrack nearby.

“But that too was wasted. Had we had some sort of processing facility, we would be able to preserve the fruit”, Wagle adds.