International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 44-58 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 51 Figure 3 Primary source of household income Table 7 Respondent's source of credit Source of credit Percent (%) Own fund 75.64 Banks 15.38 Local moneylender's 8.97 Source: Field survey, 2023 3.5 Years of apple farming Apple farming in the study area was done for many years. Years of apple farming were categorized into four categories (Table 8). The majority of respondents have done apple farming for 1 to 10 years (44.9%) followed by 10 to 20 years (42.3%), 20 to 30 years (11.5%), and 30 to 40 years (1.3%). It revealed that apple farming in the study area was carried out for decades and has been passed down from one generation to another. Table 8 Respondent's experience in apple farming Years of apple farming Frequency Percent (%) 1-10 35 44.9 10-20 33 42.3 20-30 9 11.5 30-40 1 1.3 Source: Field survey, 2023 3.6 Farm characteristics 3.6.1 Landholding of the respondents According to the data obtained from the surveyed area, the average land holding of the respondent's household was found to be 12.15 ropani out of which 6.28 ropani of land was found on an average was used for apple cultivation (Table 9). Maximum apple cultivation was done in 20 ropani and a minimum of 1 ropani was used for apple cultivation. Hence it indicates that a major portion of agricultural land in the surveyed area is occupied by apple orchards. Table 9 Total land holding and apple cultivated area Description Minimum Maximum Average Total Std.Deviation Total land holdings (ropani) 2 30 12.1535 947.97 6.31907 Total land of apple cultivation (ropani ) 1 20 6.28 490.20 3.94003 Source: Field survey, 2023 3.6.2 Bearing and nonbearing trees in the study area The total number of bearing and nonbearing trees in the studied area was found to be 10,645 and 2,596, respectively (Table 10). Households having 550 bearing trees were noted to be the maximum in the figure. In the study area total number of maximum trees was 900.
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