Planting material of 56,000 stone fruits to be imported
Shimla, February 8
The Department of Horticulture is importing planting material of 56,000 stone fruits and nuts from the USA this year under the World-Bank funded Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project. Incidentally, no apple planting material is being imported this time.
“We have imported enough planting material for apple and we are propagating our own planting material now. We want to encourage fruit growers to diversify into stone fruits,” said Secretary Horticulture Amitabh Awasthi.
The planting material will include both rootstocks and varieties of cherry, peach, plum, almond and walnut. “Apart from multipurpose rootstocks, we are getting micro-grafted plants for the first time,” said DP Sharma, HoD, Department of Fruit Sciences, University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni. Sharma was part of the team that placed the order in the USA.
“It’s high time the growers diversify into stone fruits and nuts. Sticking to just one fruit would not help in the long run. Last year, we had a good apple crop and many growers did not get remunerative price as the market crashed,” Sharma said.
He said that growers should aim to enhance their harvest calendar from May to November-December by diversifying into stone fruits. “The broader harvest calendar would offer better economic viability to the growers,” he added.
Even as there’s a push for diversification into stone fruits, lack of required post-harvest technology to address the perishable nature of stone fruit will be a huge stumbling block.
“A hydro-cooling plant was supposed to come up at Jarol-Tikkar under the World Bank project, but the machinery hasn’t reached the site yet,” said Deepak Singha, a plum grower.
A stumbling block
- Incidentally, no apple planting material is being imported this time. The planting material will include both rootstocks and varieties of cherry, peach, plum almond and walnut.
- Even as there’s a push for diversification into stone fruits, lack of required post-harvest technology to address the perishable nature of stone fruit will be a huge stumbling block.
