This winter, I had a great opportunity to travel to Nepal as a volunteer for 'Farmer to Farmer' through Winrock International to work with apple growers in the Jumla area.   The main objectives of my assignment were  to make the farmers more aware of different aspects of orchard management in order to improve the quality exportable apples and to develop a program on orchard management and measures to follow for insects/disease control. 

The Jumla Valley is situated in Mid-Western region of Nepal at an elevation of 7500 ft. which comprises 30 village development committees with a population of about 90,000. The area is rather isolated and the only way to get in or out of the area is either by plane or by trekking for four days. I was informed that in severe winter temperature goes down to 27F, but I think it must get much colder because I saw a lot of winter damage.  The average maximum temperature is around 75F.  The relative humidity is about 58% and average annual rainfall of 35 inches. The Jumla valley is suitable for apple cultivation and farmers have been growing apples as a cash crop for at least 30 years (many of the trees I saw were at least thirty years old).  There are 11 different apple varieties grown in the Jumla area, but the most important ones are Red and Royal Delicious, Golden Delicious, Jonathan and Macintosh. The other varieties with minor importance are Cox Pippin, Sweet Ambrey, Ambrey and Pakistani. In general apple harvest starts in the month of mid-July, peaks in last September and closes by mid-November. If the harvesting is delayed, it has to compete with apples coming from India.   The rootstock used is indigenous to the area, supposedly Malus pumila, and it is highly susceptible to woolly apple aphid.  Other insect and pest problems include scale, mites, scab, fly speck and sooty blotch.  Total area under apple cultivation is about 388 ha, mostly in small planting containing 50 to 100 trees.  Production is approximately 4000 MT from 60,000 trees in the area..  The average yield per tree is reported to be 65 Kg. In the area, there are about 45,000 non-bearing apple trees, which are supposed to bear fruit in about four years.

Most of the farmers involved in apple farming lack the knowledge and the resources to implement basic cultural practices such as training, pruning, and thinning and insect and disease management.   However, growers seemed eager to learn and put into practice what volunteers have taught them.  For example, I notice a few large scars running into the trunk of the tree where a limb had been cut.  After I showed a group of growers how to make a proper cut to avoid tearing of the bark, every visit we made hence, the cut was shown to the other growers by a member of the Karnali Apple Company (owned by four apple farmers who buy apples from other farmers for export), my host. 

Last year, the  Karnali Apple Co. (KAC) exported about 12 metric tons (MT) of 'Golden Delicious' apple variety to Bangladesh.  Packaging material used by the KAC is made up of hard paper but there is no ventilation provided in the box for better aeration and slow ripening. The apple growers mostly follow their own method of harvesting either by shaking the tree which results in fruits falling on the ground or by picking and putting the apples in gunny bag.  Due to the lack of proper know how most of the apple growers harvest their apple at an over matured stage which results in quick ripening and deterioration of apple quality. The 12 MT apple exported by air lift from Jumla was further graded in Surkhet where only one third of the 12 MT was found suitable for export. This situation ultimately increased the air transport cost from Jumla to Surkhet (it cost 35 rupees/kg for air transport; the exchange rate is 68 rupees to one American dollar).  The Karnali apple Co. has provided proper marketing of apple.  Until recently, most of the farmers sold their apples locally for 1 rupee/Kg.  After the involvement of Company, farmers could get about 6 rupees/Kg of apple.

There is  need to improve the quality of apple to be able to compete in markets outside of the region.  However, the area is so isolated and resources are so limited that most improvements will come in changes that can be implemented without much input,  such as better pruning to allow for better drying conditions in the canopy. 
This trip was truly an educational experience.  I have never seen such primitive agriculture.  These apples are truly grown in a sustainable manner because there is very little, if any, resource input.  In addition, I was able to see how wasteful our society can be.  In the market place at Jumla, I saw  apples that would had been thrown away in the US without any thought.  There, people were buying fruit old, dehydrated fruit which, had been in common storage since last fall's harvest with severe sooty blotch, fly speck, bitter pit, and eating it. These fruit were a source a fresh food in an area where, in the winter, food has to be imported.  In addition, the sale of these apples was supplying a small income to the grower (3 rupees /apple). 

I do have two request  for you. 
First, I would like to know if any of you still remembers how to best to extend the life of  apples with no refrigeration.  The growers in the Jumla area keep their apples in rooms built against the hill side.  Most of these rooms do not get much sunlight so they remain cool.  They do put lime in the rooms, but can not ventilate well because opening allow for animals to get into the fruit and most Nepalese are Hindu and do not like to kill animals.  Any suggestions? 

Secondly, just as I found out on my last year's trip to Honduras, farmers in Nepal want  to come to the US to learn more about orchard practices.  The 'Farmer to Farmer' Organization does not support, monetarily, this type of interchange.  They only support American volunteers to go to the foreign countries.  I strongly feel that a volunteer that goes to the country for two weeks is never fully aware of the assets, resources and limitations of these people.  It is difficult to make recommendations based on limited knowledge.  Two members of the KAC wish to come to the US to learn from American apple growers as much as possible.  They are willing to pay for their trip and work at an orchard if someone in the US would host  them and provide room and board for them. They would obtain a visitors visa rather than a working visa.  They would like to stay for a whole season.   These two men seem very hard working, progressive, innovative , and leaders of their community.  If anyone is interested in hosting a farmer from Nepal, please let me know, and we could work on details.