Dhorpatan (Baglung), August 14 – Chairman of Tarakhola Rural Municipality-5, Man Bahadur Roka, has turned a small trial of apple farming into a thriving commercial venture over the past six years. What began with a few saplings brought from Jumla has now grown into a productive orchard.
Roka’s farm, spread across four ropanis of land (approximately 0.2 hectares), features popular apple varieties such as Royal Red and Italian Fuji. Although he initially planted 100 saplings, only 80 survived. Currently, he has 140 fruit-bearing apple trees, and he plans to expand his orchard to cover up to ten ropanis in the near future.
Roka shared that he invested around NRs 150,000 in the apple farm. However, due to sapling grants provided by various organizations, the overall expenses remained low. This year, he has harvested about four quintals (400 kg) of apples.
According to Rajeshwar Silwal, Chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Center, apple farming is best suited to regions with less rainfall, ample sunlight, and good irrigation facilities. Areas like Dhorpatan and Nisel Dhor in Baglung have become emerging hubs for commercial apple cultivation.
Across the district, apples are cultivated on approximately 56.92 hectares of land, with an annual production of around 331.2 metric tons, Silwal added.
