Hybrid apple farming expanding in Manang

Manang, Aug. 10: Most of the houses in Manang have apple orchards.  Apple farmers in the district are gradually switching to commercial cultivation from traditional and subsistence apple farming.  They have shifted to growing hybrid varieties of apple given its relatively more benefits. 

Sol Bahadur Gurung of Tachai, Naso rural municipality-8, is among those engaged in commercial hybrid apple farming. He said more production from hybrid seeds attracted them towards farming.  Besides, the market for apples of hybrid varieties is encouraging, he added. 

Agro Manang's founder Polden Chhopang Gurung said farmers here are engaged in the farming of hybrid apples as both the production and market are good. The farming that started with bringing plants from outside the country has now been expanded throughout the district, according to the district-based Agriculture Knowledge Centre. 

Agro founder Gurung shared that hybrid apple farming has been done on four ropanis of land through high density technology. "In the beginning, the farm had started apple cultivation by bringing saplings of hybrid apples of high-yielding verities from  Italy and Serbia. Apple farming of different hybrid varieties—Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious- has been expanded from here," he mentioned. 

The hybrid apple farming started six years ago has now expanded throughout the district.  Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Madan Regmi, shared that farmers are attracted towards farming of such variety of apple as it start producing apples within two years.  

With the increasing in production, income-level of the farmers has also started increasing, he explained, adding farmers are attracted towards hybrid apple farming as apple production increases every year. 

Farmers' attraction is growing towards hybrid apple farming in order to make good income after they could not make good income as per their hard work from apple cultivation  of local species.

Chief Regmi opined that hybrid apple farming has now been expanded covering more than 13,000 ropanis area. Apples produced in Manang are exported to Pokhara, Kathmandu, Chitwan as well as abroad. (RSS)