Each winter from December to February, orange merchants from a Himalayan village in Paro district, Bhutan, relocate to Tsirang to export the commodity. This usually coincides with a time when oranges in Bhutan are simultaneously maturing in different districts.

This season, some 40 exporters from Paro, the seat of Bhutan’s international airport, have come to Tsirang, the commercial trucking center.

Gathering a hardworking team of packers and sorters, the group sorts grades A and B oranges and puts them into boxes. Each box currently generates Bhutanese Ngultrum 1,100 ($13.23) for grade A, while grade B garners Nu 900 ($10.83).

The export destination is usually Bangladesh, with the exporters limited to a single truckload each 48 hours. 

Tsirang’s orange exporters do not begrudge their truckload limitation since they have a lengthy export window, starting mid-November through February. The orange crop in low elevation areas ripens first and goes into export immediately. By the time early winter supplies are dwindling, the high-altitude orange fruits will have ripened in February.

In the 2023 season, merchants from this district reported to have sent a total of 73 truckloads to Bangladesh. This record seems ready for a repeat in the 2024 season for so far 13 trips have already elapsed.

Impressive Prices of Oranges in Bhutan

Even before the 2023-24 harvest, farmers in Tsirang were forward-selling their oranges at handsome prices due to high demand. The prices have still held despite the bumper harvest, as much of the citrus harvest is bound for export.

A farmer who generated Nu 30,000 ($360.9) in the 2022-23 season told The Bhutan Live press that he expects to double the earnings. His confidence pegs on the large size of the fruits this season.

In January 2024, orange farmers in the Central Bhutan district of Zhemgang also recorded a price rise of 71.4%. While a box of oranges in this forested valley cost Nu 700 ($8.42) in 2023, now it fetches Nu 1200 ($14.44).

Farmers  in Zhemgang and Tsirang can now generate up to Nu 190,000 ($2,285.7) per pickup truckload of oranges. This impressive farm gate cost will go a long way for Zhemgang, which produces 3000 tonnes of oranges, annually.

Bhutan is a growing exporter of oranges with high potential. In 2019, the country exported 10,600 metric tonnes to Bangladesh, a value that grew by 30% in 2020. 

Oranges in Bhutan retail relatively cheaply from 90 Nu ($1.08)/kg, or an average of Nu 176.22 ($2.12) per kg.