The kingdom of Nepal is a small and totally land locked mountainous country in South Asia. It is situated between 26°22’ and 30°27’ north latitude and 80°4’ and 88°12’ east longitude. It is surrounded by India to the East, South and West and by the Tibetan region of China to the North. The shape of the country is somewhat rectangular measuring 880 km from East to West and 130 to 240 km in width. The total geographical area of the country is 147,181 square km. The population of the kingdom was 21.4 million in 1996/97 with an annual growth rate of 2.1 percent. Per capita GDP was very low in 1996/97 (US$200). The total cultivable area is 3.96 million hectares of which 2.97 million ha are under cultivation. The irrigated area is only 26% of the total cultivated land; the rest depends largely on monsoon rain, 80% of which is received during June to September.
Nepal is a predominantly agricultural country. Agriculture is the lead sector for the national economy and accounts for about 42% of the GDP. About 81.1% of the population or about 3.3 million families are engaged in agriculture. Land holding per family of 5-6 members is 6.5 ha in the hills and 1.8 ha in the terai.
The Nepalese hill economy is characterized by typical subsistence agriculture based on cereal crops, and is practiced on terraces of often very steep slopes which are subjected to a great loss of top soil by erosion during heavy rain. Hilly soil is generally acidic and with poor nutrient content, especially nitrogen.
Administratively, the country is divided into 75 districts and five development regions, namely, Eastern (16 districts), Central (19 districts), Western (16 districts), Mid-Western (15 districts) and Far-Western (9 districts).
1 Apple
Both high chilling and low chilling cultivars of apple are cultivated in Nepal. The principal high chilling cultivars are Red, Royal and Golden Delicious, Mc Intosh, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, Granny Smith, Richared, Golden Spur, etc. Among all these cultivars the Delicious group covers a major area as their fruit quality is excellent. The mid chilling cultivars are Katza, Red June, Cox Orange Pippin, Crispin and Summer Pippin. The low chilling cultivars are Anna, Vered, Tropical Beauty, Winter Banana etc.
Rootstocks: Crab apple (M. baccata) seeds are used extensively for raising rootstocks for apple in Nepal. Edy Mayal which is commonly found in the wild is also being used on a limited scale as a rootstock. Clonal rootstocks such as M9, M26, M27 of the Malling series and MM101, MM106, MM111 of Malling Merton series have been introduced to a few horticultural stations and are used for propagation on a very limited scale.
Production Areas: High and mid chilling cultivars are mostly grown in an altitude range of 1800 - 2800 m.a.s.l, where chilling is more than 1000 hours; low chilling types are cultivated at elevations as low as 1200 m.a.s.l. and where chilling is 600-1000 hours. As far as elevation is concerned, apple can be grown throughout mid and high mountain areas from Eastern to the far Western region; however, due to high humidity and heavy rainfall during the growing period the most suitable areas for quality apple production are confined to the mid and far Western region where dry to semi humid conditions exist (Table 4).
2 Pear
There are two kinds of pears grown in Nepal. The oriental pear or sand pear locally known as Naspati or Pharping Naspati (Pyrus pyrifolia) is very popular as it needs low chilling hours (<1000); it is very well adapted to the warmer temperate region of Nepal.
Japanese cultivars including Shinsui, Shinko, Kosui, Hosui, Chojuro and Okusankichi were introduced into Nepal about 10 years ago under a Japanese Aid Horticulture project. These cultivars are successful under warm temperate conditions and fruit quality is excellent. These cultivars, however, require very careful management.
The European pears (P. communis) were introduced into Nepal many years ago. The better adapted popular cultivars of European pear are Bartlett, Quince, Anjou and Conference, which are also usually grown in cool temperate regions.
Rootstocks: A wild variety locally known as Mayal (P. pashia) is extensively used as a rootstock. Seedlings are raised from seed and grafting is done on them.
Production Areas: The pear is a very important deciduous fruit crop in Nepal. It is cultivated in both mid and high mountain areas of the whole country.
3 Peach
So far, a total of 44 improved cultivars of peach have been introduced into Nepal from many countries. High chill cultivars are Peregrine, Triumph, Elberta, Baby gold, Suncrest, Rhodes, Red Haven, Florida Red, etc. Low chill cultivars include Orion, Spring time, French Early, Cardinal, Armgold, Florida, Kuratake Wase, Texas, Spring time, Early Red etc. These are all early ripening cultivars, while J.H. Hale and Late Elberta are popular late peach cultivars in Nepal.
Rootstocks: A wild cultivar of peach which is widely found in Nepal is extensively used as a rootstock for cultivated peach, nectarine and almond.
Production Areas: In Nepal, peach is a very common stone fruit extensively grown throughout the mid elevations between 1000-2800 m a.s.l. High chill cultivars are performing well in the high mountain areas, whereas low and mid chill cultivars perform very well in mid mountain areas.
4 Plum
Two types of plum are commonly grown in Nepal. European cultivars grown are Green Gaga, Early Transparent Gage, Stanley, Ruth Gestetner etc. Japanese cultivars are Santa Rosa, Methley, Satsuma, Formosa, Mariposa, Burbank, Kelsey, Oishi Wase and Shiro.
Rootstocks: A wild plum or peach are commonly used as rootstocks for all plums. Clonal rootstocks of Myrobolan are also used on a very limited scale.
Production Areas: Plums are being successfully grown in areas where peaches are grown except those areas where there is early spring frost.
5 Apricot
About 13 cultivars of apricot were introduced into Nepal at different times but unfortunately only a few of them have been successful under Nepalese conditions. These cultivars included Blenheim, Titon, Bulida, Rcale Dimola, Prete, Canino, Kaisa, Charmagz, Shakarpara etc. Shakarpara is the most successful cultivar in Nepal.
Rootstocks: Apricot and wild peach are used as rootstocks for apricot.
6 Nectarine
Popular nectarine cultivars are Independent, Panamint, Arm King, Ruby Gold, Fantasy, Nectaret-2 and Neyorkert.
7 Persimmon
Popular cultivars are Euyu, Ziro, Zenjimoru, Hiratanonashi, Hachiya and some local selections.
Rootstocks: Local cultivars.
Production Areas: Warm temperate areas throughout the country.
8 Cherry
Cultivars grown are Napoleon, Satomishiki, Tokasago, Victoria and Bigara. However, none of these cultivars have shown good performance in Nepal.
