Apple production in Mustang has increased this year compared to the previous year. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Mustang, 7,636 metric tons of apples have been produced this year, compared to 7,238 metric tons last year.
While apples worth Rs 918.672 million were sold last year, this year’s apple production has reached an estimated market value of around Rs 1.10 billion, according to the Centre.
Rajesh Gurung, head of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, stated that the production figures were derived based on field monitoring of different orchards by the Centre’s technicians, crop-cutting data, inputs from local agricultural branches, and local farmers.
This year, 80 percent of the apples have already been exported outside the district, 10 percent consumed within the district, and the remaining 10 percent is yet to be harvested, Gurung said.
According to Gurung, the export of 6,108 metric tons of apples outside the district has generated Rs 861.84 million in revenue for Mustang. Likewise, 763 metric tons of apples, valued at Rs 110.23 million, have been consumed within the district. Another 763 metric tons of apples are still awaiting harvest.
Currently, a total of 832 hectares are under cultivation — 772 hectares with local varieties and 60 hectares with high-density hybrid apples. The Agriculture Knowledge Centre reported that 6,069 metric tons of local apples and 1,567 metric tons of hybrid apples were produced this year.
Local apples accounted for Rs 788.97 million in value, while hybrid apples were worth Rs 313.4 million, according to the Centre.
The Centre stated that local apples are being sold at Rs 130 per kilogram and hybrid apples at Rs 200 per kilogram. This year, the per-hectare productivity of local apples is 10.41 metric tons, while for hybrid apples, it is 26.12 metric tons.
Last year, the productivity of local apples was 10.74 metric tons per hectare, which shows a decrease of 0.33 metric tons per hectare this year. Conversely, hybrid apple productivity has increased by 1.12 metric tons per hectare — from 25 metric tons last year to 26.12 metric tons this year.
The overall average productivity combining both local and hybrid apples stands at 11.87 metric tons per hectare.
This year, although there has been a slight decline in the production of local apple varieties in the lower regions of Mustang, the upper regions remained unaffected, according to office chief Rajesh Gurung.
The increase in apple production this year is attributed to the expansion of the apple cultivation area. Last year, 566 hectares were used for local apple cultivation, which increased by 17 hectares to 583 hectares this year. Similarly, the high-density hybrid apple cultivation area expanded from 50 hectares last year to 60 hectares this year.
