Koshi Province Cold Stores Face Operational Challenges Despite Investment

Biratnagar. A cold store with a capacity of 500 metric tons was built in Belka Municipality-1 of Koshi Province with 75 percent support from the provincial government, at an investment of around 2.5 crore rupees. This cold store, built in fiscal year 07/078, has not yet been operational. Agricultural Engineer Himal Guragain of the Agricultural Development Branch of Belka Municipality states that it is in the process of formulating an operating procedure. He attributes the inability to operate the cold store to issues including electricity supply. The cold store built in Miklajung Rural Municipality-4 of Panchthar with 80 percent investment from the provincial government and 20 percent from the local municipality, at a cost of approximately 65 lakh rupees, has also not been operational due to electricity problems, according to the municipality's chairman Amarraj Makkhim. Additionally, there is a lack of skilled technicians and agricultural produce to store. 'We were supposed to store oranges. Farmers say they will sell in bulk and don't want to store,' Makkhim said. He claims that if electricity is supplied regularly and there are no voltage problems, the cold store can be operated by convincing farmers who produce agricultural products. The cold store built by Team of Multipurpose Agricultural Firm in Ramdhuni-6 of Sunsari has received 75 percent investment from the provincial government. This cold store, with an investment of over 25 lakh rupees, is currently closed. Tek Bahadur Tamang, the contact person for the cooperative, admitted that the cold store could not be operated. A grand cold store with a capacity of 1,000 metric tons for temporary storage of vegetables and fruits was built in Myanglung of Tehrathum with joint investment from the provincial government and Kiyachu Agricultural Cooperative. The Koshi Province government has invested 2 crore 47 lakh rupees in this cold store. The cooperative has also invested a similar amount, according to the former chairman of the organization, Tejman Kandangwa. Although this cold store is operational, there is no certainty about how long it will run. Kandangwa states that there is confusion about how to operate the cold store. 'The biggest problem is electricity. The electricity bill alone comes to 34-35 thousand rupees per month. It's a huge structure, but we can't run it fully due to a lack of operating capital,' he added, 'There are four chambers, but we are only running two-three by rotation.' Kandangwa said that although potatoes, kiwis, and oranges are stored seasonally, the rent does not even cover the operating expenses. He said, 'To make farmers accustomed, we have to make it cheap, but if we make it cheap, we can't even pay the electricity bill.' The provincial government has poured crores of rupees into cold stores (chilling centers) built in the name of agricultural modernization in Koshi Province. Abhimanyu Adhikari, Agricultural Extension Officer of the Industrial, Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry's Agricultural Business Promotion and Food Technology Branch, stated that due to the arson during the Genji movement last August, all documents were burnt, and he could not provide details of the investment. However, he mentioned that over 5 crore 63 lakh rupees have been invested in just 12 cold stores. While the investment in 12 projects exceeds 5.5 crore rupees, the investment in all 63 structures could be much larger. According to Adhikari, the investment in other 60 cold stores built by the provincial government and its subordinate offices is above 5 lakh rupees per unit. 'Some are 5 lakh, some might be up to 10 lakh,' he said. The 1,000 metric ton capacity cold store in Bhadrapur, Jhapa, is idle, citing 'repair work is underway.' The 12,000 metric ton capacity cold store in Devanaganj, Sunsari, and the 60-ton store in Itahari are closed due to 'construction work being stopped.' Similarly, the chilling centers in Sundar Krishi Farm with a capacity of 30 tons in Barahakshetra, Sunsari, and the wholesale market with a capacity of 200 tons in Dharan are not operating at full capacity. Small chilling centers with capacities of 5 to 10 metric tons are being built in a rush in mountainous districts like Solukhumbu and Sankhuwasabha. In Solukhumbu alone, dozens of small chambers have been built for kiwis and apples, but the electricity tariff and technical maintenance costs for such small structures are adding more debt burden to farmers than profit. *Demand for more cold stores worth crores* On one hand, the built cold stores appear ineffective, while on the other hand, new demands are arising. According to the 'District-wise Details of Chilling Centers,' proposals have been made for dozens of new chilling centers in districts like Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha, Okhaldhunga, and Morang. More than 80 percent of these projects have not undergone 'pre-feasibility studies.' Proposed projects in Siddicharan, Molung, Khijidemba of Okhaldhunga, and Urlabari and Kerabari of Morang mention 'no feasibility study,' but it is claimed that land, road, and electricity facilities have already reached there. A proposal for a large chilling center with a capacity of 5,000 metric tons has been made in Haldibari Rural Municipality of Jhapa. A pre-feasibility study has not been conducted there either. In Solukhumbu alone, there are demands for more than 20 small chilling centers for kiwis and oranges. The ministry stated that there is a demand for medium-sized structures in Sankhuwasabha from BhoteKholato Chainpur. Similarly, there is a demand for a capacity of 300 metric tons in Laligurans Municipality of Tehrathum, and two capacities of 50 metric tons each in Dikteil Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality of Khotang. Similarly, centers with capacities of 100 and 120 metric tons have been demanded in Hile and TemkeMaiyung Rural Municipality of Bhojpur respectively.