Sunday, 18 December 2022 | PNS | JOSHIMATH
More than six quintals of the fruit produced in region this year
A rising number of farmers in the Joshimath area are now also cultivating kiwi apart from apple which was already being grown here. More than six quintals of kiwi have been grown by farmers in this area in this season with the Horticulture department also encouraging farmers to cultivate this fruit. Last year, the department had distributed 1,500 kiwi saplings in this area.
Though apples were cultivated even earlier in the Joshimath area of Chamoli district, more farmers are now taking up the cultivation of kiwi which sells for between Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kilogramme in the market. Here the kiwi is being cultivated by farmers in Joshimath, Sunil, Paini and Badagaon areas. Resident of Punagair in Sunil, Geeta Devi states that she had planted the kiwi vine three years ago which has now started bearing fruits. She said that there has been good production of kiwi this year. Horticulture department inspector Somesh Bhandari said that more than six quintals of kiwi have been cultivated in this region in the current year. Considering the interest of farmers in cultivating kiwi, the department had distributed about 1,500 saplings to farmers last year, he said.
