Apples in Karnali: traders reach villages as farmers get better prices

With road networks now reaching villages in Jumla and Mugu in Karnali province, traders have begun coming directly to orchards, and apple farmers are getting better prices as a result.

In Phungra of Jumla's Sinja Rural Municipality-5, traders now arrive with trucks right at farmers' doorsteps. Previously, farmers here had to carry loads on their backs all day just to get apples to market.

Lilaram Rokaya of Phungra, who planted 1,600 fruit-bearing saplings eight years ago, has sold apples from his orchard at Rs 105 per kg. He has earned around Rs 2.1 million so far, with 40 quintals still left to sell. His orchard, which produced only 77 cartons last year, has yielded 1,600 cartons of apples this year.

Ramchandra Rokaya of the same village sold apples worth Rs 940,000 from 400 saplings at Rs 95 per kg. Parilal Rokaya, who has 700 saplings, earned Rs 1.15 million.

In Mugu, however, hailstorms and windstorms that struck more than three dozen locations between Chaitra and Baisakh knocked down blossoms, sharply reducing production compared to last year. Pocket areas including Talcha, Kalapalt, Rowa, Shobha and Sorukot were affected.

According to Tejbikram Malla, chief of the National Agriculture Modernization Program Implementation Unit in Mugu, 16,763 hectares of land are cultivable out of the district's total area of 3,535 square kilometers.