By Our Correspondent
Bajura, Nov. 14: Farmers of Bajura district earned handsome money by selling apples from their farms this season.
They sold apples worth more than Rs. 3 million from the farms this year. In the past, they used to feed the apples to their cattle.
The farmers of Jagnath and Swamikartik Rural Municipalities and Badhinanda Municipality sold their apples to Anusha Construction Private Limited from their apple gardens.
Anusa Construction Private Limited purchased the apples reaching the apple garden of the farmers after the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Bajura managed transportation subsidy to supply the apples, said Meen Prasad Jaishi, information officer of Agriculture Knowledge Centre Bajura.
“The company purchased apple at Rs. 25 per kilogram. The company purchased apples worth over Rs. 3 million from the farmers of Jagnath and Swamikartik Rural Municipalities and Badhinanda Municipality,” he said.
The company reached the apple farms to buy apples after the Centre announced to provide transportation subsidy, Jaishi said.
According to him, they established a gift shop in Bajura to supply any product produced in the district across the country through a single window system.
“All organic products of the district arrive in the gift shop. The apples are also being supplied to other districts through the same gift shop. Around 700 quintals of apples worth Rs. 60 million were sold this year,” he said.
Around 60 quintals apples were supplied to Kathmandu, 60 quintals each to Chitwan and Nepalgunj and 100 quintals to Dhangadhi this year, he said.
The price of the apples that reached Bajura from Dhangadhi is Rs. 150 per kilogram but the price of organic apples produced in Bajura is only Rs.. 85 per kilograms, information officer Jaishi said.
Around 700 quintals of apples were sold outside the district out of total 1,300 quintals produced in those villages, he said.
Apples are grown only in Jagnath and Swamikartik Rural Municipalities and Badhinanda Municipality in the district.
However, the famers have started growing apple in Gaumal Rural Municipality applying a new technology since last year.
Agriculture Development Branch of Gaumul Rural Municipality of the district has started the growing new varieties of apples, including Fuji, Gala and Golden as test farming, said Ramesh BK, chief of Agriculture Development Branch of Gaumul Rural Municipality.