Blocked road leaves Mustang apples rotting on trees as farmers face losses

With the Beni–Jomsom road blocked for a week by floods, landslides and river erosion, apple farmers in Mustang are in distress. Apples that ripened on the trees have started to fall and rot.

During the peak season for picking and transporting apples across all five local levels of Mustang, more than 80 percent of the production has yet to reach the market. Three dozen farmers and traders from the five local levels went to the District Administration Office on Monday and met Chief District Officer Ajita Sharma, demanding that the road be reopened immediately. They also informed her about the losses farmers have suffered due to halted transport.

Neeraj Tulachan, operator of IPM Apple Farm in Tukuche of Thasang Rural Municipality-1, said that the main sales period before Dashain is at risk because the route is blocked, and a year's investment and effort could go to waste. According to him, there is nowhere to store apples if they are not picked, and no route to take them to market if they are.

Although repair work is under way on the Myagdi section of the road, the route has still not been fully opened.