Rain, snow ruin 30% stone fruit

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 19

Even as snow and rain have spelt doom for stone fruit in the lower Shimla-Kullu-Mandi belt, the prevailing weather has brightened the chances for a good apple bloom in April due to the presence of good amount of moisture content both in soil and atmosphere.

Farmers revealed that the unfavourable weather had damaged about 30 per cent of stone fruit crop like almonds, peach and plums which were in a flowering stage in Shimla, Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur and Mandi. But the cherry was saved as its plants bloomed in the first week of April, said the farmers.

Though the stone fruits were in the decline because the farmers had shifted to cash crops of vegetables and floriculture, a small percentage of farmers in Shimla, Sirmaur, Kullu, Mandi still depend on the stone fruit, revealed the scientists.

In Shimla district, rain and snow, followed by frosting, had impacted stone fruit in Hatkoti, Nandpur, Sawra, Kuddu and lower areas of Mendli, Chairgaon and Rohru, said Lakshman Thakur, chairman, Ecohorts. The temperature dropped to a sub-zero level, whereas it should be 4 degree C or above at this stage for the stone fruit, he added.

On the other hand, snow and rain had come as a boon for the apple belt as these killed mite pathogens and boosting prospectus of a healthy bloom and a good crop, Thakur said.

Since stone fruit plants were sturdy, the farmers still hoped that they would harvest some percentage of crop this year. “The bloom in cherry orchards is yet to start, but plums and almonds are in bloom, which has been hit by the chill,” said Anup Bhalaik from Kotgarh.

The farmers had also reported a poor stone fruit crop in the Aut-Kharal-Seobag-Naggar belt and the Tirthan-Gushaini-Banjar-Jibhi and Manikaran belt in the Kullu district. February was warmer, but snow and rain in March had hit the stone fruit crop, which was not more than 30 per cent of the normal crop this year, said Ranjiv Bharti, a grower from Gushaini.

Similarly, the farmers in the stone fruit belt of Churag-Thandapani-Kotlu, Thunag and lower Seri in Mandi district have reported a damage to the stone fruit crop this time.