Samdrup Jongkhar is the seat of the Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan. The town is located at the south-eastern part of Bhutan, bordering the Indian state of Assam. Despite the pandemic, exporters say shipments of oranges from Samdrup Jongkhar increased by 30 percent year-on-year.
The Rinyang Export house exported more than 100 truckloads of oranges to Bangladesh and about 20 truckloads to India from its depot in Samdrup Jongkhar until last week. It exported about 80 truckloads the previous year.
One exporter said he exported more than 58 truckloads to Bangladesh and about 25 truckloads to India this season. He, however, said they only fetched a price of USD 22 this time, while they fetched USD 26-27 last year.
He said they faced labour challenges, as the Bhutanese labourers were not experienced in grading and packing, adding that they fetched about Nu 270 to Nu 380 per pon from the loose packing export to India.
About 4,500 tonnes of oranges were exported from Samdrup Jongkhar and earned Nu 127.384 million, according to a press release issued by the eastern Covid-19 taskforce (EC-19TF). The exporters exported about 3,438 tonnes and generated Nu 116.52 million last year.
[ Nu100 = €1.10 ]
Source: kuenselonline.com
Photo source: Dreamstime.com