The country imports almonds and cashews worth Rs 1.17 billion in four months 

The country imported almonds and cashews worth Rs 1 billion 177 million 954 thousand in the first four months of the current fiscal year, 2021/22, starting in mid-July.

Cashews of various varieties worth Rs 618 million 433 thousand and almonds worth Rs 559 million 521 thousand were imported during this period, import and export statistics for the period published by the Ministry of Customs.

Traders import cashews from six countries and almonds from three, mainly on the Dashain and Tihar festivals.

Cashew is imported from India, China, Mozambique, Nigeria, Singapore and Vietnam while almond is imported from India, America and Afghanistan.

Most cashews are imported from India. In the first four months of the current fiscal year, 417,484 kilograms of cashew nuts were imported from India for a value of 365 million rupees 13 thousand.

Similarly, 183 thousand 554 kilograms of cashew nuts worth 145 million rupees 366 thousand wereimported from Vietnam during this period.

As many as 89,900 kilograms of cashew nuts worth Rs 70 million 397 thousand were imported from Mozambique in the first four months of the current fiscal year, while 45,452 kilograms of cashew nutsworth Rs 305 million 184 thousand were imported from Nigeria and 1,134 kilograms worth Rs 904 thousand. imported from Singapore in the same period.

In the first four months of the current financial year, the largest quantity of almonds was imported from America. Up to 909,560 kilograms of almonds worth Rs 557 million 629 thousand were imported from America, 1,632 kilograms of almonds worth Rs 1 million 568 thousand were imported from India and 504 kilograms of almonds worth Rs 324 thousand they were imported from Afghanistan during that time. The government generated revenue of Rs. 181 million 540,000 from the importation of cashew nuts and Rs. 171 million 654,000 from the importation of kernels in the first four months of the current financial year . Although the country imports almosttwo billion almonds and cashew nuts, the relevant government agencies do not take any concrete initiative to cultivate these dried fruits in the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture said there are huge opportunities for growing almonds in the country. However, commercial cultivation has not yet started.

There is also the possibility of growing cashew in the tropical districts of the country such as Dhanusha, Siraha and Saptari. The price of a kilogram of cashews is between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 while that of almonds is between Rs 2,800 and Rs 3,000 per kilogram in the domestic market.