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KATHMANDU, Sept 6: Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) say low yields in key producing districts, including Mustang, have led to the doubling of apple prices in producing districts. Insufficient rain and snowfall during last winter have been blamed behind low production of apples, a key agro-product in some Himalayan districts.
"We have estimated that apple harvest in Mustang district will go down by around 35 to 40 percent as compared to the harvest in the same period last year, with southern part of the district badly affected by scanty rain and snowfall during the last winter," said Hem Raj Regmi, senior statistics officer, at the MoAC.
"Due to drop in production, the price of apple has touched Rs 60 per kg in Mustang´s market, up from around Rs 30 per kg last year," Regmi added.
According to Regmi, VDCs in the southern part of the district -- Kagbeni, Jhong, Jomsom, Muktinath, Marpha, Tukuche, Lete, Kunjo and Kowang -- have seen significant decline in apple production.
According to the MoAC´s figure, the district produces about 2,575 ton apples under normal conditions. Apple farming has been recorded in 421 hectares of land in the district. The district is home to about 150 big orchards.
Regmi, who recently returned from a field study in Mustang, said production of apple in southern parts of the district would go down by as much as 50 percent as compared to the production recorded last year. With the decline in production, the price of apple is expected to shoot up in domestic market, which has already seen apple prices double in this season, in the coming days.
The harvest in Dolpa and Humla, other major apple producing districts, is also expected to go down due to long spell of drought and limited snowfall. "However, Kalikot, Jumla and Rukum will see marginal decline in production this season," Regmi informed.
During 2007/08 fiscal year, Nepal had produced 36,000 tons of apples in 4,000 hectares of land in Kalikot, Jumla, Mustang, Dolpa, Humla, Rukum and other western hilly districts. Red Delicious, Royal Delicious, Rich Red Delicious, Fuji Macintosh are the major are popular apple varieties in Nepal. Besides, a number of local varieties are also popular among farmers.
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