DOLPA, Sept 14: Rangagaun village is known as 'apple capital' of Dolpa. And the village lives up to its reputation.
Local villagers welcome guests and visitors with apples. When they leave, guests are again apples as souvenirs. The village is known for top quality apples.
“Sir, you can take as much apple as you can. We'll not charge you anything,” said Phul Kumari Budha, a local farmer.
Dried apples, a profitable product for Jumla farmers
While the villagers are spirited and kind-hearted by nature, a part of the reason for their generosity is also because their apples would get rotten otherwise. They have no market to sell their apples that have grown in abundance this year.
Farmers of Tripurasundari Municipality are worried that their apples would rot in their house and local shops in lack of proper market. Should that happen, their hard works to cultivate and harvest the apples would all go in waste.
Especially farmers from Locha, Jufal, and Tipla of Thulibheri Municipality and Ranga and Jiu of Tripura Municipality are hit hard from lack of market access. They have not been able to reap rewards for their hard works.
“There is no market at all. The apples are set to rot in cold stores,” said Budha. “We are staring at huge losses. The only usefulness of rotten apples is that we can use them as fertilizers.”
Her family had earned nearly Rs 200,000 by selling apples last year. Better harvest this year has hardly proved beneficial for Budha.
