Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science 9(1): 8-13 (2024) https://doi.org/10.26832/24566632.2024.090102 This content is available online at AESA Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science Journal homepage: journals.aesacademy.org/index.php/aaes e-ISSN: 2456-6632 ARTICLE HISTORY ABSTRACT Received: 31 October 2023 Revised received: 03 March 2024 Accepted: 09 March 2024 Undoubtedly, climate change is becoming a worldwide concern due to its great sensitivity and detrimental effects on livelihood. The government, policymakers, and other relevant stake- holders are striving to come up with novel and innovative approaches to combat the effects of climate change. Nevertheless, understanding and perceptions of the issue among local farmers are more crucial before making mitigation or adaptation plans. It’s them who are actually more exposed to these environmental works and who are on the frontlines of climate change. So, the study was conducted in 2022 at Lower Mustang to understand how farmers perceive climate change, how it has impacted apple production, and to find discrepancies between their perceptions and the actual change in climatic variability recorded by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM). Temperature and precipitation were two climatic varia- bles that were taken into account to investigate the significant effects they have on the rate of apple production. Altogether, 60 households from Lower Mustang were selected randomly for the study. Pre-tested interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, as well as secondary data from DHM, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), etc. were used to collect the required information. The majority of farmers observed an in- crease in temperature (83.30%) and an unpredictable increase in rainfall (98%), which are con- sistent with the actual change in temperature and precipitation recorded between 1991 and 2021. Findings show that the average annual temperature and mean annual precipitation are increasing at a rate of 0.012°C per year and 0.4146 mm per year, respectively. This has resulted in the outbreak of significant amounts of diseases and insect pest infestations that have a direct impact on the quality and quantity of apples. The majority of farmers acknowledged that rainfall was the most significant climatic hazards that negatively impacted apple production, followed with hailstones having an impact on apples during flowering and fruiting. Farmers in the study area are limited to intercropping practices, mostly as an adaptation strategy to combat the impacts of climate change. The study concluded that farmers perceived climate change; they are aware of the term ‘Climate Change’ but haven’t taken any significant adaptation measures towards it. So, there is an immediate need for effective adaptation mechanisms, taking into account farmers' perspectives, to make Lower Mustang self-sufficient in apple production. ©2024 Agriculture and Environmental Science Academy Keywords Apples Climate change Impacts Perception Productivity Citation of this article: Adhikari, S., Timilsina, R. H., Panthee, A. A., & Sapkota, A. (2024). Farmers’ Perceptions of the impact of climate change on apple production in lower Mustang, Nepal. Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 9(1), 8-13, https://dx.doi.org/10.26832/24566632.2024.090102 Farmers’ Perceptions of the impact of climate change on apple production in lower Mustang, Nepal Shristi Adhikari 1* , Ram Hari Timilsina 2 , Anusuya Aaradhana Panthee 1 and Ashmita Sapkota 1 1 Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan - 44200, Bagmati Province, NEPAL 2 Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan - 44200, Bagmati Province, NEPAL * Corresponding author’s E-mail: shristiac531@gmail.com INTRODUCTION The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE