Apples worth Rs 500 million exported from Mustang

MYAGDI, NOVEMBER 29: Apples worth Rs 500 million have been exported from Mustang this year. Seventy percent of the total product has been supplied outside the district, according to the agriculture knowledge centre. The export amounted to 4,620 metric tons. The apple is sold at Rs 100 per kg in September and at Rs 120-130 in November.

However, the farmers said the fruit was sold at Rs 110 per kg on average. Chief of the agriculture knowledge centre in Mustang, Prakash Bastakoti, informed that the apple production was upped by 18.56 percent this year. "It was found during crop cutting and inquiry made at the orchard. The production was increased due to favorable climate, land and increased new plants," he observed. The apples were planted on 580 hectares of land.

The farming is done in all five local levels of Mustang. The crop-cutting survey had revealed that 11.37 metric tons of apples are produced in a hectare, Bastakoti added. This year, out of the total product, 440 metric tons of apples were produced with high-density technology. Such technology is adopted in 38 hectares of land. The centre further said farmers had been aware of orchard management. Agriculture officer for PM Agriculture Modernization Project, Netra Bhatta, said nearly 70 metric tons of apple was kept in six cold stores for off-season sale. In March-April, apples will get more price.

There is an apple zone programme under the PM Agriculture Modernization Project where more than 125 firms including that of cooperatives, and private are being conducted in the district. The agriculture knowledge centre has been running the apple bloc programme. Seventy percent of the apple produced in Mustang is supplied outside the district. The apple is produced in the land at an altitude of 2,500 meters from the sea level. The cold weather with snow adds quality and taste to the apples. The tourists visiting Mustang buy apples as gifts. There are also six liquor factories that produce liquor by processing apples.

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