Apple of Himachals eye

Last year too,Himachal Pradesh had witnessed a record production of 4.40 crore apple boxes,higher than previous years 2.97 boxes were produced in 2007-08 and 1.4 crore boxes in 2008-9.

Horticulture experts,who toured apple-producing areas this month,are predicting a good quality crop.

But the government has chosen keep its fingers crossed.

Says Principal Secretary Horticulture V C Pharka: So far,things are looking suitable for a good crop. There is sufficient moisture in the soil and plants have witnessed sufficient chilling hours. If the trend remains favourable till the flowering stage,we can hope the long chill could bear good fruits. But we would not like to make any prediction at this stage.

For the past few years,the apple growers had been a worried lot. The absence of snow that acts as manure for the apple plants had a negative impact on the apple produce.

The year 2008 was perhaps the worst when there was no snow or rain in the winters .The impact was so bad that the crop was almost wiped out to the extent of 60 per cent in some areas. Last year,the weather remained good at the time of flowering. Except for the losses caused by hail and strong winds,the crop broke all previous records.

But the growers faced problems in transporting the apple boxes to the market partially because of shortage of trucks and mainly due to bad roads and heavy monsoon.

Several truckloads of apple boxes could not reach the market in time and had to be dumped midway in the hills because they had started rotting. The Congress party,now in the opposition,says the losses were to the tune of Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore.

This time,there is a marked change in the weather. Said SP Bhardwaj,a senior horticulture research scientist at the Dr YS Parmar Horticulture and Forestry University,Solan: Against a minimum requirement of 1,100 chilling hours,the apples have completed almost 1,250 chilling hours. It is going to be good for the quality of apples,and will also reduce incidence of diseases.

Not just apples,the weather has,in fact,brightened the prospects of other fruits such as peach,plum,apricot,cherry,pomegranate,strawberry and almond grown in Shimla,Sirmaur,Solan,Kullu and Mandi districts as part of crop diversification process in apple belts.

There is more good news for apple growers. To meet the threat of natural calamities,Himachal Pradesh has become first state in Asia to install three anti-hail guns.

The US-made equipment will be put to test this season. Whenever the radar installed at Shimlas highest location Tharapathar detects hail-bearing clouds,the guns will automatically fire to change hail into rain. One gun has a range of three km, says Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta.

Two other projects ,a Rs 85-crore apple rejuvenation scheme and Rs 100-crore project to set up a mega fruit yard on the lines Delhi8217;s Azadpur market,have also been launched.

Yet,the biggest worry of apple growers remains. If the government fails to repair the roads in the fruit-growing belt to ensure smooth marketing of the produce,its going hit the apple economy hard.

In Himachal,over two lakh families are engaged in apple business,which accounts for an annual turnover of Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 crore.