Apple farming flourishes in Upper Mustang

By Hari Krishna Sharma,Muktinath (Mustang), June 22: Residents of Ghami village in Upper Mustang’s Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality-2 have cultivated apples on more than 950 ropanis of land. 

For the past five years, local farmers have been attracted to apple farming. By producing local varieties of apples, they sold apples worth around Rs. 150,000 last year.

After the success of trial faming with involvement of 43 households in group and individually, the farmers are now highly encouraged. “Each year, new saplings are being planted,” said Lopsang Chomphel Bista, Chairperson of Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda rural municipality.

Chairperson Bista said, “Fruits that once grew only in Lower Mustang are now thriving in Upper Mustang as well. We have prioritised agriculture and provided support.”

According to him, the rural municipality has been offering tools, machinery and subsidies to attract locals to farming.

At least 26 households in Dhee village, Surkhang, in Ward No. 2 of the municipality, have cultivated apples on 1,200 ropanis of land.

Ward Chairperson Pasang Gurung said that due to drying water sources linked to climate change, residents who migrated from Thamjung have now taken up apple farming. New saplings are planted every year, he informed.

Located at an altitude of around 4,000 metres above sea level, Dhee village serves as a seasonal destination for the people of Thamjung, who travel there for agriculture and livestock grazing. Besides Ghami and Dhee, locals in Charang have also started apple farming.

With apple cultivation expanding to areas like Tangbe and Yara Ghara in Upper Mustang, the Temperate Horticulture Development Centre in Marpha is in the final stages of establishing a satellite agricultural farm in Ghami village, Lomanthang Damodarkunda Rural Municipality-2.

Padma Nath Atreya, head of the centre, said that due to climate change, apple cultivation, previously limited to Lower Mustang areas such as Thasang, Gharapjhong and Baragung Muktikshetra rural municipalities, has now started extending to higher elevations. 

In response, the centre is preparing to establish a branch farm by acquiring 801 ropanis of land in the name of the centre, targeting farmers from the two rural municipalities.

As snowfall, once common in Lower Mustang, has declined in recent years, apple yields have decreased. Atreya said that while apples worth Rs. 950 million were exported last year, the harvest is expected to decline this year. 

Mustang is witnessing some of the most visible impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures. The region’s four horticulture blocks currently host 35 varieties of apple saplings.

Photo Caption: Lopsang Chomphel Bista, Chairperson of Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality, cleaning apple saplings in Upper Mustang.