Apple growers unaware of pollination benefits

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 23

Apple and other fruit growers in Uttarakhand and Sikkim are not in position to get sufficient production from their apple orchards unlike their counterparts in Himachal Pradesh, as they are not aware about the significance of pollination in fruit production. This fact has come out in the study of a world pollination project which was run in some countries in the last five years by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and is shortly being finalized, said sources close to the study team of the project.

According to the sources, the FAO world project to study the effects of pollination on selected regional crops and fruits began in 2010 and would be finalized by year end.

According to the scientists at the Himalayan Environment and Development Institute, Almora, the Indian stakeholders in the project, the pollination project study was carried out in India, Ghana, Brazil, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa in the last five years and it was found after assessments of the results that insects such as honeybees, wild bees, and butterflies are helpful in not only improving produce of various crops but also improving their quality. “The crops of apple, mustard and cardamom, which were taken for studying the pollination effect under the project, have given results that these crops fully depend on pollination for quality production in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh,” said Dr RS Rawal, senior scientist at the institute who worked as the main inventor in the project.