Kangra farmers grow low-chill apple varieties

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 15

Low-chill apple varieties are becoming popular among the farmers of Kangra district. A couple of years ago, a few progressive farmers started growing low-chill apple varieties in the region. Now, their saplings have been planted on about 530 hectares in the district comprising the mid-Himalayan region.

Kamalsheel Negi, Deputy Director Horticulture, Kangra, says that horticulture is done on around 41,000 hectares in Kangra and around 47,000 metric tonnes of fruits are produced. Apple saplings of low-chill varieties have been planted on 530 hectares in the district and 330 metric tonnes of the fruit are being produced, he adds.

Negi says that apple orchards were planted in Kangra only a few years ago mostly in Baijnath, Shahpur and Dharamsala development blocks. The plants of low-chill apple varieties, anna and dorset, have been planted in the district and these get ready by June 10. These days, due to the nonavailability of apple in many parts of the state, gardeners are getting good prices in the market, he adds.

Purna Chand, a farmer of Durgela village in Shahpur tehsil, has become famous in the region for growing low-chill variety of apple. He planted an apple orchard in 2018 and sold about six quintals of apple last year. He claims that he does not use chemical fertiliser or spray in his garden. “I use a variety of organic fertilisers made from pulses, kitchen waste, oil seeds, cow urine and cow dung,” he adds.

He says that he had a good apple crop this year but it was damaged due to a hailstorm. However, he had still sold about one quintal of apples so far. “Due to the good quality of apple, customers come to my home,” he adds. Purna Chand has also prepared a nursery of about 25,000 apple saplings by taking land on lease. He says in the winter this year, he sold about 2,500 saplings to local farmers. As many as 25 families have planted 50 saplings each in the Shahpur area. “I have helped people in planting apple saplings,” he adds.

Purna Chand also got 80 per cent subsidy for anti-hailnet from the state government. At present, he has planted about 150 plants of anna and dorset apple species on a four-kanal garden. He calls upon the youth to become self-employed. He advises them not to leave their land barren and adopt horticulture by planting saplings of apple, kiwi and guava.

Sanjay Gupta, a horticulture expert, says the farmers of Kangra have planted apple, kiwi and guava plants. Farmers at Durgela, Bhanala, Bandi, Rajol, Dhadamba villages in Shahpur have planted apple saplings and harvesting has started. These plants start giving yield in two to three years, he adds.

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