Higher returns bring economic prosperity to farmers
Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar: After witnessing losses in the last few years due to multiple reasons, high density apple farming is bringing back smile on the faces of fruit growers as it is fetching handsome amounts in markets.
Growers said that new varieties of apple were introduced in Kashmir after 2015 and the best thing about them is that the plants start bearing fruits just a year after their plantation and reach full production in the 4th or 5th year.
They said traditional apple trees start bearing fruits at least ten years after plantation and are harvested in November. This at times causes growers to sustain damages due to untimely snowfall but high density apples are harvested in August only.
Muhammad Ashraf, a grower from Pulwama who has a high density orchard on 8 kanals said that he replaced traditional apple trees last year with high density plants.
“We planted high density apples Red Galla last year and this year we sold them at Rs 5 lakh while for 15 years, traditional apples trees failed to give us 5 lakh,” he said.
Mohammad Ayoub another grower from Anantnag said that the yield of high density apple trees is at least five times more than traditional varieties with 80 percent less consumption of fertilizers and pesticides.
“In June last year, I spent around 2 lakhs to plant high density apples and this year I have already received more than half of the amount spent,” he said.
Horticulture experts said that high density apples are less prone to diseases and they need very little amount of fertilizer and pesticide spray, said Ansar ul Haq, a manger of one such company providing high density apples plants to people
