Farmers elated as Nepali pepper, Timur, farming yields good income

Sujal Shrestha / Pyuthan, Nov 21: Kamal Pun Magar of Fopli in Naubahini Rural Municipality-7 is elated for he earned over Rs. 80 thousand by selling timur, Nepali pepper, that he grew in his own land for grass growing.

Pun Magar has about 200 timur plants in his farm and that he sold timur at Rs. 800 per Pathi (nearly 4 kg depending on how dried the spice is).

With the rise in price of timur, farmers who loathed to pluck timur (Zanthoxylum armatum) in the past have now attracted to cultivating it.

Farmers have started to use farmland for cultivation of timur plants. Timur farming has flourished in places such as Swargadwari, Kochiwang, Fopli, Darmi, Ligha, Majhkot, and Jumrikanda of Pyuthan.

With a unique tingling or numbing sensation in the mouth, timur is native to the Himalayan region.

Padam Bahadur KC, a nursery farmer of Gaumukhi Rural Municipality-6, said that demand of timur plants have increased in the last few years. “Demand of timur saplings has increased as people have started to cultivate it in farmland, whereas it used to grow in jungles in the past.”

Resham Kunwar, a timur farmer, said that a kg of graded timur was sold at Rs. 850 while the non-graded was sold at rs. 500 per kg. He said the spice was supplied to Nepalgunj and Kathmandu.

According to the data of Division Forest Office, Pyuthan, the district sells timur of over Rs. 10 million a year now.

With a view of processing timur into spices, two spice factories have been established in the district – Swargadwar Masal (spice) industry and Bijuwar Swargadwari Herbal industry.