Varmul, Jan 27: The Valley apple growers are presently a worried lot. With this winter till now almost proving dry and snowfall escaping Kashmir, it has raised concerns among the growers who fear worst nosedive in fruit production.
 The growers here said the drought like situation prevailing in the Valley was a great threat to its entire fruit industry.
 The growers here said even as this year the climatic conditions had turned worst for the fruit, “the condition in the past a couple of years was not good either.”
 “There has not been sufficient snowfall in the Valley during the last six or seven years resulting in the decline of apple production,” they said.
 “For 45000 hectares of land the minimum apple yield should have been 25000 metric tones, but due to the inconsistent snowfall in the Valley the production has come down to 15000 metric tones,” said former president, Varmul fruit growers’ association.
 The fruit growers of Rafiabad here termed the overall situation as completely grim. “Prolonged dryness means no moisture to the trees. The lack of moisture makes trees lifeless which affects the production,” they said.
 “Snow not only helps in ensuring the minimum chilling hours required for a good crop but also maintains the required temperature. In the absence of snow, not only the production, but the quality of the fruit also gets affected,” said Muhammad Shaban, a fruit grower of Rafiabad.
 The fruit growers said even if it snowed in the coming days, “it will hardly have any large positive effect on the production and quality of the fruit,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 IST