Myagdi, July 22 – For the first time in the district, commercial cultivation of apples has been done in Gurja of Dhawalagiri Village Municipality-1 of Myagdi. The Himali Agricultural Cooperative Society of Gurja has been cultivating high density apples with the financial and technical support of the village municipality and the Agriculture Knowledge Center. Ward Chairman Zak Bahadur Chhantyal informed that high density apple seedlings were brought from Italy and cultivated in Gurja.
“This is the first commercial apple farming in Gurja district in Myagdi district,” he said. 256 saplings were procured with 50 percent grant assistance from the Agriculture Knowledge Center and 592 saplings with 75 percent grant from the village municipality on the proposal of the ward. Last year, the Agriculture Knowledge Center had allocated Rs. 150,000 and the village municipality Rs. 500,000 for apple farming in Gurja.
In Gurja’s Nailibang, 26 farmers have planted apple seedlings in ten ropanis of paddy fields. Gurja’s apple farm is 2,700 meters above sea level. Ward Chairman Chhantyal said that apple farming has been introduced in Gurja as farming has been successful at other places.
Farmers are attracted to high density apple farming as it is fast growing, high yielding, easy to pick and cultivate. Farmers plan to expand apple farming if trial production is successful. Earlier, local varieties of apples were cultivated in Gurja but they were not relatively successful. Govinda Pandey, agriculture extension officer at the Agriculture Knowledge Center, said that the seedlings were brought from Italy for cultivation in high density apples for testing in Gurja.
“After the old and traditional native apple trees stopped producing and producing quality apples, high-density apple seedlings were planted instead,” he said.
Published Date : 22 Jul 2021
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