By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 7 Jun: Ever since the formation of Uttarakhand as a separate state, every single government has claimed that the state will be developed as a horticulture state on the lines of the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh. Though Uttarakhand is touted to be a horticulture state, the real picture of horticulture in the state is far from being rosy. In fact, the ground situation is such that due to various factors, the area under cultivation of most fruits has declined sharply over past two decades. To add to the woes of the horticulturists here, global climate change has resulted in lesser rains and lesser snowfall in the sub temperate region of the state and thus resulting in productivity of the fruit crops. Ironically, the horticulture department in the state has not been helping the farmers much to tackle their problems. The farmers claim that the Horticulture department does not even conduct the kind of ground level surveys of horticulture areas one the lines of the surveys done by the agriculture department and instead keeps on adding areas under horticulture crops in its records without any verification.
Unfortunately, the agriculture and horticulture in the hills are still largely dependent on rains rather than regular irrigation. While traditionally, the hills had lot of natural water resources in form of springs and naula-khaulas but they are drying up and the government has made no serious effort to rejuvenate them or conserve them. Most of the hill orchards having temperate fruit trees such as apple, pear, peaches, nectarine, plum, walnut or apricot etc depend on winter snowfall and winter rains for irrigation. Winter snow and winter rains add lot of moisture to the soil in these areas which used to be retained till April and May with local cyclonic rains following in June and then the monsoon rains from July till September. The winter snow and rains not only provided necessary soil moisture but also ensured fulfilment of chilling requirements of the various crops such as apple and pear etc. Now with lesser rains and snow during the winters, soil gets dry before time and also the trees do not get enough chilling hours per crop for good productivity. Sources within the state horticulture department claim that in places like Uttarkashi and Almora which were the major horticulture areas for apple and other temperate fruit crops, the production of fruits has come down by half in past two decades.
So much is the change in the local weather conditions in past two decades that the farmers in many areas have either left cultivating temperate fruit crops or are in the process of switching over to sub tropical fruits such as guava and pomegranate (In Kalsi and Purola blocks).
Fortunately, many of the newer hybrid apple, peach, nectarine or pear cultivars have lesser chilling requirement and they can replace the traditional cultivars (Varieties) of apple and other temperate fruits but replacing them has not been an easy process for the farmers. These grafted hybrid plants are very expensive to buy from private nurseries and the horticulture department which has procured hybrid plants has not been able to ensure procurement of quality planting material due to obvious reasons. Many farmers who procured hybrid planting material through the government have later realised that the cultivars supplied to them did not turn out to be true to name. Some private nurseries in business have also been cheating the farmers by supplying spurious material which the farmers realise only three to four years after purchasing. It may be pertinent to remind here that several directors of horticulture departments have faced inquiries for allegedly procuring spurious planting material and supplying the same to the farmers.
According to a study by Climate Trends, an organisation working in the field of environment, the area and production of major fruits in Uttarakhand has been significantly affected since the year 2020. This decrease in production can be seen especially in the production of temperate fruits as compared to tropical fruits. The decrease in horticultural production in Uttarakhand is linked to the changing weather in the state and its impact on agriculture. Along with the yield of fruits in Uttarakhand, there is a decline in the area of fruit production as well. The highest reduction has been observed in the production of fruits like peach, apricot, plum and walnut in the high altitude areas of the Himalayan region. According to this study, in the year 2016-17, apple was produced in 25,201.58 hectares in Uttarakhand, but by the year, 2022-23, the area under apple cultivation has come down to just 11,327.33 hectares. There has been a 30 percent decrease in apple production during this period. Similarly, a 58 percent decrease has been observed in various varieties of local lemons and limes. Interestingly, at the same time, the area under guava cultivation has increased by 36 percent and production by about 95 percent during the same period.
The decline in the areas under fruit cultivation has not just reduced in the hills only but also in the plains of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Between the years 2016-17 and 2022-23, the area of litchi and mango in Uttarakhand has decreased by 49 and 42 percent respectively, while their production has declined by 20 and 24 percent respectively. According to the study, the decline in fruit production in Uttarakhand is pointing towards a major change in the pattern of growing different types of fruits. The reason behind this is the change in agricultural practices, land use and market conditions, as well as possibly the environmental impact on some fruits. The increase in the production of guava and karonda shows that the farmers of the state are taking interest in growing such fruits which are more suitable according to the local demand and changing climatic conditions.
The study reveals that the area under fruit cultivation has reduced the most in Tehri, Almora and Dehradun district with highest reduction recorded in district Almora. Area under fruit cultivation has also been reduced in past ten years in Pithoragarh and Haridwar district. But what should be a reason for serious concern is the fact that fruit production in district Almora has been reduced by 84 percent. In district Chamoli, the area under fruit production has reduced by 13 percent between 2016 and 2023 but the total fruit production has been 52 percent. As compared to this, the total area under fruit cultivation in district Udham Singh Nagar has increased by 5 percent. Which indicates that some progressive farmers in the Terai region are switching over to high density tropical fruit cultivation. Some progressive farmers in districts Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag have however been successful in switching over to cultivation of high yield temperate fruit crops and here the production has increased by 26 and 11 percent respectively despite reduction in total area under fruit cultivation.
According to a Climate Central report, between 1970 and 2022, the average temperature in Uttarakhand has increased at the rate of 0.02 per cent annually. The temperature in the state has increased by about 1.5 degrees Celsius during this period. Temperature rise has been observed more in high altitude areas. Research shows that relatively warm winters are causing snow to melt faster in high altitude areas, reducing the snow-covered area. In the last twenty years, the temperature in winter in high altitude areas of Uttarakhand has increased at a rate of 0.12 degrees Celsius. While rainfall has decreased at a rate of 11.3 mm every decade, due to which the snow-covered area has decreased by 58.3 square km. The snow-covered area in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag districts decreased by 90-100 square km in the year 2020 as compared to the year 2000. Due to the increasing temperatures and lesser rainfall, the necessary chilling requirements of temperate fruit crops are not being met which is affecting the production and quality of temperate fruits.
The solution lies in a proactive approach by the government. Some private and government nurseries need to be identified to prepare high quality hybrid planting material as per the needs of the changing climate patterns. Many farmers have given up farming and horticulture in the hills due to monkey menace and wild boars and this also needs to be tackled effectively by ensuring that the wild animals get enough food from the forests themselves. The government must ensure fair price for Malta, Galgal and other fruit crops. Most of these fruits are harvested during the rains and often, the landslides and blocked roads prevent these fruit crops from reaching the markets. This also needs to be tackled.
Effective short and long terms measures need to taken up in earnest to conserve and rejuvenate the traditional water resources in the hills. For this, concerted efforts are required. A genuine ground level survey by the state horticulture department needs to be taken up. Otherwise the horticulture will keep on growing in this horticulture state on papers only.
