Horticultural area and products dwindle in State famous for its fruits
Saturday, 01 JUNE 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Uttarakhand was once a leading producer of pear, peach, plum, and apricot and the third largest producer of high quality apples in the country. However, the yield of major fruit crops have plummeted significantly in the State in the last seven years. The decline in yield and area under cultivation of major fruits have been alarming since 2020. Experts state that changing temperature patterns in the State could partially explain the shifting horticultural production. With warming climate rendering certain fruit varieties less productive, farmers are shifting towards tropical alternatives which are better attuned to the altering climatic conditions.
Uttarakhand has witnessed a massive shrinkage in the area under horticulture production which also coincides with the declining yields of major fruit crops in the State. Temperate fruits like pear, apricot, plum and walnut have seen the maximum fall in production while apples and lemons have been moderately hit. The area under apple production reduced from 25,201.58 hectares in 2016-17 to 11,327.33 hectares in 2022-23 with a corresponding 30 per cent decline in yield. The yield of lemon varieties shrunk by 58 per cent, according to data from the Horticulture department.
Despite nearly 49 and 42 percent reduction in cultivation area, production of mango and litchi remained relatively stable, with slight declines of 20 and 24 per cent respectively. Conversely, guava showed a notable increase of 36.64 in production area from 3,432.67 hectares in 2016-17 to 4,690.32 hectares in 2022-23. Gooseberry and guava showed significant rises in yield marked by 63.77 per cent and 94.89 per cent, respectively, indicating positive trends for these fruits during the same time frame.
When it comes to the districts, Tehri registered the maximum decline in area under cultivation by 75.61 per cent followed by Dehradun where it decreased by 68.68 per cent. The corresponding fall in yield however was not particularly significant in both the districts with 24.77 per cent in Tehri and 19.75 per cent in Dehradun. Almora, Pithoragarh and Haridwar on the other hand recorded notable reductions in both areas under cultivation and fruit yields. Fruit production in Almora reduced by 84 per cent, the highest among all districts. Despite only 13 per cent shrinkage in area under production between 2016-17 and 2022-23, fruit yield diminished disproportionately by nearly 53 per cent in Chamoli. Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag on the contrary saw 26.5 per cent and 11.7 percent rise in yield despite nearly 43 per cent and 28 per cent decline in area under cultivation respectively.
ICAR-CSSRI Krishi Vigyan Kendra head and senior scientist of horticulture Pankaj Nautiyal said, “Traditional temperate crops like high quality apples have a chilling requirement of less than Celsius degrees Celsius for 1200-1600 hours during the period of dormancy (Dec-March). Apples require two to three times more snowfall than what the region received in the last five to ten years leading to poor quality and yield.”
A farmer in Ranikhet, Mohan Chaubatia said, “The lack of winter snow and rain is posing a major hurdle in fruit production.” He further added that production of temperate fruits has reduced to half in the last two decades in Almora. Farmers who cannot afford irrigation have been the worst affected due to the increasingly dry winters and low fruit productivity in the State.
ICAR-IARI Agricultural Physics division head Subhash Nataraja said, “The short-term variability and trends in temperature are worrying and there is a need to study the long-term trends in weather variables and its relation to yield, especially, its relation with any change in crop/cropping pattern or shift in crop/cropping pattern. There is a need to identify/develop location specific climate resilient varieties and management practices to reduce the impact of climate change and climate variability. Moreover, climate financing is very much essential to save the farming community from adverse weather aberrations. We also need to advocate the village level agromet advisory services and its dissemination to various stakeholders in a timely manner, so that they can prepare against adverse situations and make decisions accordingly.”
