Advances in fruit breeding in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal has spent about six decades on fruit development and research in different species. Fruit breeding particularly local and exotic germplasm collection started after 1950s and has gained momentum after the formation of commodity programme in 1972 AD. Major researches in the past were focused on indigenous and exotic genotype collection, evaluation, selection, propagation protocol standardization and adoptive trials. Some good ground works have already been done in major fruits such as apple, pear, plum, persimmon, kiwifruit, citrus, litchi, guava, pomegranate, walnut, papaya, banana and mango. The major public institutions involved in fruit breeding are Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) following Agriculture and Forestry University. Some of the private nurseries like Everything Organic Nursery, Kavre and Technology Demonstration Centre of ICIMOD, Lalitpur were also involved in introduction and maintenance of indigenous and exotic fruit species. National Centre for Fruit Development, Kirtipur; Tropical Region Horticulture Centre, Nawalpur; Temperate Horticulture Farm, Satbanj, and Horticulture Farm, Marpha collected many local and exotic fruits and maintained at field gene bank. Horticulture Research Station, Rajikot has introduced 25 spur type apple cultivars and maintained in field gene bank. National Citrus Research Programme, Paripatle has introduced, collected and maintained 130 genotypes including exotic and indigenous landraces of citrus. Two varieties of acid lime ‘Sunkagati-1’ and ‘Sunkagati-2’ have been released and one variety ‘Terhathum Local’ has been registered. ‘Khoku Selection’ of mandarin orange has also been registered. Banana varieties 'Malbhog', 'Willium Hybrid' and 'G9' has been selected by participatory varietal selection and registered. To strengthen fruit breeding in the nation, NARC needs to be restructured with special focus on fruit researches. Establishment of national fruit commodity programs along with establishment of Tropical Fruit Research Station in Province 2 and Temperate Fruit Research Station in Province 5 at national level can streamline NARC's fruit breeding researches.

Climate Change and New Markets: Multi-Factorial Drivers of Recent Land-Use Change in The Semi-Arid Trans-Himalaya, Nepal

“…The settlement of Marpha, where apples were first introduced in the 1960s and where an Agricultural Research Centre (apple horticulture) is located, is traditionally closely associated with the cultivation of fruit trees [93]. Thus, it is plausible that Marpha nowadays accounts for the largest proportion of apples, with apples growing on 87% of the total arable land, giving rise to the name of "apple capital of Nepal" [76].…”

“…Due to the temperate climate within the Lower Mustang (Figure 2C), the investigated settlements are capable of two harvests a year despite elevations of almost 3000 m asl [41,42,75,93]. The historical maps of Marpha (October 1993) and Kagbeni (October 1991) are based on the autumn growing season.…”

Collaborative exploration and collection of native plant genetic resources as assisted by agrobiodiversity fair

“…The country is believed to be centre of origin of many modern crops and part of the biodiversity hotspot of the world. Nepal is an origin place of many species of fruits (Gotame et al, 2020).…”

Financial Feasibility and Prospects of Commercial Acid Lime Farming in Nepal

“…Perhaps, only few farmers might have been benefited cultivating these high yielding varieties. The national yield of acid lime in Nepal in the year 2018/19 has been reported 7 mt/ha (MoALD, 2020); while, two high yielding varieties: Sunkagati-1 (34.5 mt/ha) and Sunkagati-2 (26.9 mt/ha) were released in 2015 for upland condition of terai, inner terai, foothills and river basin areas (Gotame, 2020). Even now, the acid lime growing farmers don't have proper technical knowledge and information regarding financial feasibility, profitability estimation and market situation.…”