A Study on Economics of Apple Nursery Growers in the Dolpa District, Nepal

This research was conducted to compute the economics of the nursery business, identify opportunities and constraints, and evaluate the current nursery management practices of nurseries located in Thulibheri Municipality, Tripurasundari Municipality, and various rural municipalities. All nurseries registered with Agriculture Development Office (ADO), Dolpa were selected purposively for the study. Primary data were collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGD), Household Surveys, Key informant interviews (KII), and telephone surveys using an interview schedule. Major constraints to sapling production included high initial costs for rootstock seeds and a lack of quality propagating materials. Additionally, damage during transportation and difficult road conditions were significant marketing concerns. Climate suitability and land availability were the most influential factors for the nursery business in the area. Farmers used Edimayal and crab apple as rootstocks, while red delicious was the dominant scion variety. Most farmers grew scions for grafting on their own farms. All farmers sold their saplings at district price rates, with most of the produce utilized within the district. Notably, 71.29% of the total produce was marketed through agricultural-related offices, from which farmers obtained subsidized saplings. The overall benefit-cost (BC) ratio of the nursery business was found to be 2.01, and the internal rate of return (IRR) was 31.36%, which is greater than the prevailing interest rate. Despite existing constraints, the nursery business was found to be profitable. It is recommended that farmers and related stakeholders carry out nursery operations in plastic houses rather than in open fields and invest in other infrastructure to develop the nursery business in the study area.