Arunachal town takes up apple cultivation

Arunachal town takes up apple cultivation

Our Correspondent

Itanagar, June 2: Cultivation of low-chilling varieties of apple under Pasighat condition in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh has been taken up by L Wangchu, associate professor and head of Fruit Science department at the College of Horticulture and Forestry in Central Agricultural University.

The initiative has been taken under the leadership of AK Pandey, Dean of the varsity, an official release informed here today. The apple varieties - Anna (developed in Israel) and Dorsett Golden (developed in Bahamas) - were brought from Solan, Himachal Pradesh and planted in the college farm. These varieties are able to produce good apples even if it gets less than 300 hours chilling temperature at or below 70 Celsius.

At present, there is one apple block with 100 plants in the college farm. Both the varieties "Anna" and "Dorsett Golden" act as pollinizer to one another. The plantation is done at 5×5 meter spacing.

With this introduction, the college felt that the farmers will be able to grow apples in warmer areas of Arunachal Pradesh as well.

"This will not only boost apple production in the state but also help in economic upliftment of the poorer section of the society as apple is costlier than most other fruits. This will be a small step towards fulfillment of Prime Minister's dream of doubling farmer's income by 2022," the release added.

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