The ban was imposed last month to prevent premature picking. The selling of unripe apples, which was of inferior quality, had dented the popularity of the Marphali apples of Mustang. [break]
´As the fruits have ripened, we have lifted the ban,´ said Narayan Kumar Shrestha, officer of Mustang District Agricultural Development Office (DADO). He said the ban helped the fruits to ripen and helped farmers get good prices for their harvest.
DADO records further shows that the production of apples in Mustang has increased by 50 percent this year compared to last year. The office estimates the production to touch 4,000 tons this year.
Shrestha attributed the rise in production to the presence of enough moisture in air during the flowering season. According to agro technicians, presence of enough moisture in the air for around 1,000 hours during flowering season (February-March) raises production.
´The better yield was also possible due to less disease outbreaks and less pest attacks,´ said Shrestha.
The farmers, who were exhausted due to frequest outbreak of diseases and massive attacks by pests in their plantations over the last three years, are hopeful of earning good income this year. Farmers in about a dozen of VDCs including Marpha, Jomsom, Kobang, Kagbeni, Muktinath and Jhong have been planting apples.
The apples produced in Mustang are sold in the markets of Baglung, Beni, Parbat, Kathmandu and Pokhara. Businessmen from Pokhara and Baglung, who buy and market the produce, have started to approach farmers, said Nara Bahadur Hirachan, a farmer of Marpha, who earns over Rs 1 million every year selling apples.
Currently, the farmers have set their selling price at Rs 60 per kg. But if the traders buy fruits from the tree itself, they are seeking a payment of as much as Rs 20,000 per tree, depending on the volume of produce.
Farmers said that the trend of businessmen approaching them has made things easy for them as the businessmen themselves take care of transportation. Previously, traders had to rely on mules to transport apples.
Nowadays with roads connecting villages traders themselves are approaching farmers. This has enabled farmers to enjoy handsome returns and to expand their plantations. Supply of apples form Mustang mainly fulfills the fruits demand during two major festivals Dashain and Tihar.
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