Thaindian News

Shimla, July 2 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh has asked the central government to include the losses to the fruit and vegetable crops in the state due to vagaries of weather in the list of natural disasters, an official said here Saturday.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, asking them to include the losses to crops due to hailstorms in the list of natural disasters so that farmers can get compensation, a government spokesperson told IANS.

He quoted Dhumal as saying that in the current season, the losses to fruit crop, mainly apple, have reached Rs.375 crore till date.

“The fruit crop loss due to natural calamities during 2009-10 and 2010-11 was Rs.248.34 crore and Rs.236.41 crore respectively,” the chief minister said.

Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta told IANS the hailstorms in the past three months have severely hit the Kothgarh-Thanedar apple belt in Shimla district, the prominent apple belt in the state.

“There are reports of widespread hailstorms in Jubbal, Kotkhai, Rohru, Chopal, Rampur, Sarahan, Theog and Narkanda areas (in Shimla district). However, the crop in Kullu and Mandi districts is comparatively less affected by the hails,” he said.

Cherry, pear and peach crops too have been hit due to weather vagaries, he added.

Official estimates say this year’s apple yield will be around 22.5 million boxes of 20 kg each - about 50 percent less than last year’s bumper production of 44.5 million boxes.

Himachal Pradesh is one of India’s major apple-producing regions, with more than 90 percent of the fruit being sold domestically.

The state’s fruit economy is estimated to be around Rs.1,500 crore, with Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts being the hubs.