High altitude dams cause low horticulture yield

Dams are robbing Kinnaur of its big cash crop—apples,chilgoza etc..

Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh)

Chilgoza, another victim

Hydel projects are also hurting the production of chilgoza, a rare dry fruit. Chilgoza trees regenerate naturally. In India they grow only in Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh). Hundreds of chilgoza trees have been felled to make way for the approach road for Tidong dam, say residents of Rispa village in Nichar. Rispa is a prosperous village with 80 families, each holding 5.6 ha on average. They depend on chilgoza apart from a little farming. “Our ancestors lived off chilgoza trees as they last hundreds of years,” said Vinod Kumari, who owns 60 chilgoza trees. “I have lost most of my trees to illegal felling.”

While laying the road the builders, Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, damaged many more trees than 1,261 allowed in the forest clearance, noted an inspection report by the district administration. Residents of six villages in Tinala forest say they stand to lose 80 per cent of their chilgoza trees to blasting and debris dumping. “Tunnel ing for the dam will start soon. We will be left with hardly any trees,” Vinod Kumari of Rispa, said. “When we have good plantations, why does the government want us to take up daily-wages job?”

Pine nut(Chilgoza)

Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus). About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food.

       Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) Energy 3,657 kJ (874 kcal) Carbohydrates 13.1 g - Starch 1.4 g - Sugars 3.6 g - Dietary fiber 3.7 g Fat 68.4 g - saturated 4.9 g - monounsaturated 18.7 g - polyunsaturated 34.1 g Protein 13.7 g Water 2.3 g Vitamin A equiv. 1 μg (0%) - beta-carotene 17 μg (0%) Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.4 mg (35%) Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.2 mg (17%) Niacin (vit. B3) 4.4 mg (29%) Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.3 mg (6%) Vitamin B6 0.1 mg (8%) Folate (vit. B9) 34 μg (9%) Choline 55.8 mg (11%) Vitamin C 0.8 mg (1%) Vitamin E 9.3 mg (62%) Vitamin K 53.9 μg (51%) Calcium 16 mg (2%) Iron 5.5 mg (42%) Magnesium 251 mg (71%) Manganese 8.8 mg (419%) Phosphorus 575 mg (82%) Potassium 597 mg (13%) Zinc 6.4 mg (67%)  

Pollination and seed development

The pinyon pine nut (seed) species will take 18 months to complete its maturity; however, to reach full maturity, the environmental conditions must be favorable for the tree and its cone.

Development begins in early spring with pollination. A tiny cone, about the size of a small marble, will form from mid-spring to the end of summer; the premature cone will then become and remain dormant (with a cessation of growth) until the following spring. The cone will then commence growth until it reaches maturity near the end of summer.^[6] The mature pinyon pine cone is ready to harvest ten days before the green cone begins to open. A cone is harvested by placing it in a burlap bag and exposing it to a heat source such as the sun to begin the drying process. It takes about 20 days until the cone fully opens. Once it is fully open and dry, the seed can be easily extracted in various ways. The most common and practical extracting method used is the repeated striking of the burlap bag containing the cone(s) against a rough surface to cause the cone(s) to shatter, leaving just the job of separating by hand the seed from the residue within the bag.

Another option for harvesting is to wait until the cone opens on the tree (as it naturally will) and harvest the cone from the pinyon pine, followed by the extracting process mentioned above. Fallen seed can also be gathered beneath the trees.

Farmers in Himachal Pradesh turn to kiwi cultivation

                                       
 Fruit growers in Himachal Pradesh are increasingly taking to commercial cultivation of the exotic kiwi fruit. Horticulture experts say it's a good step towards crop diversification and fetching them good returns too.

Successful cultivation of kiwi along with pomegranate, cherry and strawberry by progressive farmers in the state has encouraged the horticulture experts to promote the cultivation of this fruit crop, a shift from traditional apple cultivation.

'Mid-hills and valleys of Solan, Shimla, Sirmaur, Mandi and Kullu districts are ideally suited for kiwi cultivation. It's ideal for crop diversification and has a market among high-end consumers,' Sudhir Katiha, assistant project officer of the state horticulture department, told IANS here.

He said in certain areas the production of apple has been severely affected by climate changes.

'In certain pockets of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts, the production of apple has declined due to climatic changes. Apple orchards require 1,000 to 1,600 hours of chill, while kiwi requires just 200 hours of chill for a favourable crop. Farmers in the areas where the chilling hours are not static now have opted for kiwi cultivation as a cash crop,' he said.

As per horticulture department estimates, at least 200 farmers in the Kullu valley alone have taken up kiwi cultivation.

'A group of farmers in Kullu has started cultivation of kiwi. This encouraged the farmers in other districts of Mandi and Shimla to opt for cultivation of trans-climatic hybrid fruit in the apple-dominated areas,' horticulture director Gurdev Singh said.

Last year, the total kiwi yield in Himachal Pradesh - known as the fruit bowl of the country - was 137 tonnes, Singh added.

'These days the Hayward, Abbot, Allison and Bruno varieties of kiwi are cultivated on almost 120 hectares. Farmers are making good profit by selling it in the local markets,' he said.

Ramesh Kamta, a farmer from Shimla, said the price of kiwi at the local wholesale fruit market this year was Rs. 60-100 per kg. The kiwi crop that is ready by mid-September continues till October-end.

'Though people have not so far developed a liking for its peculiar tangy taste, its demand is quite good among certain buyers. Of course, its long shelf life is helpful for the growers,' he said.

Neel Kamal Thakur, a farmer of Patan village in Kullu, is growing kiwi at an altitude of 8,500 feet.

'Kiwi typically needs temperate climate to grow, but we (the farmers) have made it a success even at extremely low temperatures,' he said.



He said farmers in this economically backward area had also taken up the cultivation of exotic vegetables and other fruits to boost their income.

Approximately 200,000 hectares of land in Himachal Pradesh is under horticulture cultivation, which yields approximately half a million tonnes of different kinds of fruit. The state earns more than Rs.25 billion from cultivation of fruits and vegetables.


Apple is the state's main fruit crop and is being grown in nine out of 12 districts.

Besides apple, other fruits like pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, almonds and plums are the major commercial crops of Himachal Pradesh.

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Cabinet approves 51% FDI in multi-brand retail

Indian retailers finally get a chance to rejoice as the Cabinet today cleared the bill to increase foreign direct investment to 51% in multi-brand retail and 100% in single brand.
Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said that he would give a statement in Parliament on retail FDI.
Currently, India allows 51% FDI in single brand retail and 100% FDI in cash and carry format of the business.
The decision will be cheered by global retail giants such as Wal-Mart that have long been eyeing India's lucrative retail sector which is mainly populated by small ‘mom & pop’ shops. Currently, organized retail, or large chains, makes up less than 10% of the market.
An ASSOCHAM report states that India’s overall retail sector is expected to rise to USD 833 billion by 2013 and to USD 1.3 trillion by 2018, at a compounded annual growth rate of 10% driven by the emergence of shopping centres and malls, and a middle class of close to 300 million people that is growing at nearly 2% a year.
The recommendation to increase FDI in retail was made by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, however it came with certain riders like 50% of the investment and jobs should go to the rural areas, 30% of the inputs should be sourced from medium and small enterprises and investment in infrastructure.
However, such entities would be allowed only in towns with population of over 10 lakh.
Commenting on the development, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, B Muthuraman, says “CII strongly supports the introduction of FDI in multi-brand retail recognizing that it would benefit the consumers, producers (farmers) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and generate significant employment.”
Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the CII goes on to say that “this move is expected to substantially benefit consumers also; by making available farm produce at much lower prices.”
Even though everyone is celebrating this decision, Raj Jain, chief executive of Bharti Walmart, warns that India may not see a flood of investments immediately. “There should be substantial investment in the next two-three years,” he told CNBC-TV18.
However, Jain is a little put-off by the condition to invest in towns with a population of more than 10 lakhs. “Only 51 towns in the country meet this requirement, so a large group of people will not get this service,” he said.

 

Food inflation fell sharply to single digit at 9.01% for the week ended November 12 even as prices of most agricultural items, barring potatoes, onions and wheat, continued to rise, on an annual basis.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 10.63% in the previous week.

The rate of price rise in food items stood at 11.38% in the corresponding week of the previous year.

According to the data released by the government today, onions became cheaper by 32.85% year-on-year, while potato prices were down by 7.23. Price of wheat also fell by 3.09%.

However, all other food items became expensive on an annual basis during the week under review.

Vegetables became 17.66% costlier, while pulses grew dearer by 14.28%, milk by 10.46% and eggs, meat and fish by 11.98%.

Fruits also became 4.59% more expensive on an annual basis, while cereal prices were up 2.86%.

Inflation in the overall primary articles category stood at 9.08% during the week ended November 12, as against 10.39% in the previous week. Primary articles have over 20% weight in the wholesale price index.

Inflation in non-food articles, including fibres, oilseeds and minerals, was recorded at 4.05% during the week under review, as against 5.33% in the week ended November 5.

Fuel and power inflation stood at 15.49% during the week ended November 12, the same as in the previous week.