Under the slopes of Nilgiri peak, the village of Thini in Nepal's Mustang district is having a bumper year. Apple harvests have doubled or tripled compared to last season — and that's exactly the problem. Too much fruit, too few ways to sell it, and a supply chain that rewards volume rather than excellence.
Thini's ward chair, Pradeep Thakali, is behind a project called Syaaũ-Grahm (literally 'apple village') that wants to fix this. Instead of selling everything in bulk to brokers, who mix good and bad fruit and pay farmers inconsistently, the project would buy apples directly from growers, sort them into A, B and C grades, and market them under one brand. Top grades go straight to consumers in cities like Pokhara and Kathmandu; lower grades become juice or the local apple brandy Mustang is known for. A cold-store will keep unsold fruit fresh well past harvest, and any profits get ploughed back into local education, healthcare, farmer training and fertiliser.
This year showed why it matters. Post-monsoon landslides blocked the Kali Gandaki Highway, the main route to Pokhara and Kathmandu. Brokers couldn't reach Thini, and at the time of writing many farmers still had unpicked apples hanging on their trees. A cold-store and direct buying would cushion farmers against exactly this kind of disruption.
Local growers are on board. Mandana Thakali, manager of Thini's homestay committee, comes from a family that has farmed apples for 45 years and says the branding and marketing push should help her sell more. Another farmer, Batti Thakali, likes that the project will finally separate the good fruit from the bad.
Don't expect overnight change. Syaaũ-Grahm has been in the works for about five years already, and Thakali reckons results could take another decade or more. He has funded the cold-store and water access so far and secured the project's selection by Nepal's National Planning Commission last year.
For travellers, this is a nice backdrop to one of Nepal's most striking regions. Mustang — the arid, Tibetan-influenced valley along the Kali Gandaki gorge — is popular with trekkers heading toward Muktinath and the walled city of Lo Manthang. Thini sits near Jomsom, the district's main hub, and the area's homestays give visitors a direct line to farming families who have grown apples here for generations. Autumn brings golden foliage, harvest season and, conveniently, fresh apples and brandy at the source. Supporting village-run homestays and buying fruit direct from growers is a small way to make a trek itinerary count for the communities along the trail.
Reported by Nepali Times.
