Promoting low-chill apple varieties in Kangra

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 13

Nirmal Jain, a private entrepreneur from Ludhiana, has taken an initiative to popularise low-chill apple varieties in the mid-Himalayan region. Jain has organised an exhibition of low-chill apple varieties in Gopalpur area. He planted saplings of anna, desert gold and dorsett varieties of apples in Gopalpur area of Kangra district.

“All these varieties have been developed in Israel and the US. These varieties can produce good apples if these get 200 hours in minus 7 degrees Celsius temperature.

“My aim is to popularise low-chill apple varieties in mid-Himalayan region,” he said. Jain said India was ranked No.10 in the world in terms of apple production. If low-chill varieties were promoted and India doubled its apple production, it could jump to No. 3 after China and the US in apple production, he added.

Meanwhile, farmers who took the initiative of growing low-chill apple varieties in mid Himalayas were ruing government apathy.

About 2,000 apple trees have been grown by Mann Tea Estate owners in Dharamsala. Guddu Pathania, manager of the farm, said, “We hardly get any advice or support from the government. Last year, low temperatures that persisted till May caused about 90 per cent loss to the apple crop.”

Pathania said they had grown apple trees about five years ago in about 55 kanals of land. They had brought apple shots from Hariman, a farmer in Ghumarwin of Bilaspur, who had first successfully grown apple in low-altitude areas of the state.

The trees started giving fruits in their fourth year, he said.

Dharamsala falls in the mid-Himalayan region and has an average altitude of of 1,500 metres.

Many other farmers have also started growing apples in low-altitude areas.

Dehra subdivision in Kangra district has an average altitude of just 503 metres from sea level. The area witnesses extreme temperatures ranging from 40 to 45 degree Celsius during summers. The apple varieties that have been successfully grown in Dehra and Dharamsala area are low-chill varieties.

Inquiries revealed that apple varieties that were successfully grown by farmers in lower hills include anna variety and golden dorsett. These varieties were developed in Israel and were first introduced in 1959.