Thaindian News

By Vishal Gulati
Shimla, April 21 (IANS) Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, India’s major fruit basket, are hoping for a good crop this year because of favourable weather following rains in the last few days that have brought the temperature down and added moisture to the soil.

“The weather has been really good this time and my estimation is that the apple crop would be good as compared to the previous year,” horticulture director Gurdev Singh told IANS.

In 2009-10, 280,000 tonnes of apple was produced in the state against 510,000 tonnes in 2008-09. The decline in production was due to a snowless winter and dry monsoon.

“The fruit setting has been good this year and well in advance. Now, rain and thundershowers are enabling the plant to get nutrients from the soil,” said S.P. Bhardwaj, former joint director of the Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan.

According to him, the high moisture content in the soil protects the fruit from falling off early.

Yoginder Chauhan, an apple farmer in the Kullu valley, agreed. “The recent light showers have come as a big respite for the crop that was withering due to a long dry spell,” he said.

“The crop is in perfect condition and if the weather continues to be favourable in the next three to four months, the yield would be marvelous,” Chauhan added.

The meteorological office here said the apple belts in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba and Mandi districts have received good rainfall in the past few days.

“Barring some areas in upper Shimla, the entire apple belt in the state saw good spells of rain, though a little delayed. The western disturbances are again approaching the region , more rain is likely in the next few days,” met office director Manmohan Singh said.

Bhardwaj said the ideal temperature for a good apple crop is between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius at this time of the year. The recent rain has massively plummeted the maximum temperature. It was above 22 degrees Celsius in apple belts for quite some time.

Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta said: “It’s too early to predict the total output for the apple crop. But the field surveys indicate that there would be a good crop this year that would definitely compensate last year’s losses.”

Apple constitutes about 81 percent of the state’s total fruit production. The harvesting generally begins in August and continues till November.

And the business is pegged around Rs.1,500 crore, with Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts being the hubs.

Apples from the Chango, Ribba and Namgiya valley of Kinnaur district and Hurling in the Spiti sub-division are always in high demand and enjoy a virtual monopoly. The crop from these areas comes when the harvesting almost ends in other parts of the state.

Himachal Pradesh is one of India’s major apple-producing regions with over 200,000 families engaged in the cultivation of the fruit.

The area under the apple crop has increased to 97,438 hectares in 2008-09 from 400 hectares in 1950-51.

Besides apple, other fruits like pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, kiwi, strawberry, olive, almonds and plums are the major commercial crops of the state.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)