MUSTANG: Only 30 percent of the apples produced in Mustang district have been transported to markets outside the district so far, as prolonged road closures disrupted shipments during the peak marketing season.
The Beni-Jomsom road remained blocked for two weeks following floods, landslides and riverbank erosion triggered by heavy rainfall on September 27 (Asoj 11), disrupting apple transportation.
As a result, the volume of apples reaching markets has fallen significantly compared with the same period last year. With the road now reopened, farmers and traders have resumed shipments.
Dr. Lalmani Aryal, chief of the Agriculture and Livestock Development Branch in Mustang, said apple production was good this year, but the road blockage created significant challenges for farmers and traders in selling and transporting their produce.
He said around 70 percent of the apples should have reached the market by this time of the season, but only 30 percent had been transported outside the district. Around 10 percent of the district’s apple production is consumed locally.
Bharat Gautam, chief of the National Agriculture Modernization Program in Mustang, estimated this year’s apple production at 10,000 metric tons, up from 7,000 metric tons last year. With production increasing, apple sales are expected to reach around Rs. 2 billion this year, he said.
Although the Beni-Jomsom road has been repaired and reopened, traffic has yet to return to normal. With the peak apple marketing season nearing its end, however, farmers have stepped up harvesting and transporting their produce to market.
Mustang’s apples typically see their highest demand between the Haritalika Teej and Bada Dashain festivals. This year, however, the prolonged closure of the Beni-Jomsom road prevented farmers and traders from transporting their produce during this crucial period.
With the road operational again, shipments of apples grown across all five local levels of Mustang have resumed.
Aitaram Tamang, manager of Chimle Orchard Agricultural Farm in Dhumba, Gharpjhong Rural Municipality-5, said six truckloads of apples were transported to Kathmandu within two days of the road reopening. He added that only 30 percent of the harvest had been sent to market so far.