Dry weather and water shortage: Fruit growers need not to worry, say experts

With Kashmir witnessing little to no snow during winters and ‘unexpected’ above normal temperatures in the early spring, people associated with different farming activities in the valley are a worried lot these days. 

While the climate scientists are forecasting prolonged dry spell and water shortage during the summers, agriculture experts have already advised farmers involved in paddy farming to cultivate maize and pulses which require much lesser quantity of water as compared to rice cultivation. 

   

Though the horticulture experts say the fruit growers need not to worry, however, those orchardists who have shifted to high density apple plantation have to make advance arrangements for the water supply to their farms as it is an irrigation intensive activity.   

“Generally, apple trees are deep rooted and water scarcity will have little impact on these orchards,” said Muhammad Yusuf Zargar, director research SUKAST Kashmir. However, he said high density apple trees will get affected as these plants are shallow rooted and need abundant water. 

“To save the high density trees, orchardists need to irrigate them well in time and these trees should be also mulched,” he added.

Zargar said that paddy will be causality due to scarcity of water. “Paddy needs continuous irrigation and that is available only up to a limit now in northern and central Kashmir.” He said that other crops too will be affected because of non availability of water. 

A senior agriculture officer who is not authorized to speak to media said that the change in the weather pattern, including low rainfall and snowfall in the winter this year, is definitely going to affect the Kashmir’s agriculture and horticulture produce. 

Majority of the farmers, who spoke to Greater Kashmir on the issue, said all the farming activities be it horticulture or agriculture would get affected, on varied levels though, due to scarcity of water. 

“The quantity of the fruit depends on the weather conditions. The dry climate can result in premature produce which in turn can affect the quantity,” said 65-year-old apple orchardist Abdul Aziz of Rafiabad, Baramulla. 

Kashmir has been witnessing unexpectedly high day temperatures since February. In March, there has been a steep rise in the temperature and in the last week of the month Srinagar recorded 27.8°C maximum temperature, which is almost 10.2°C above the normal of 17.6°C maximum.

“Not only March, even, February has seen above normal temperatures across the region. With there being no forecast of rain in the coming days, the day temperature is expected to rise,” MeT officials have said.

Shakeel Romshoo, head of the earth sciences department in the University of Kashmir last week told Greater Kashmir that the temperature has increased as compared to the last two decades and it is also one of the reasons for lesser amount of snowfall in Kashmir. “If we ask parents or grandparents or recollect our childhood, Kashmir used to receive heavy snowfall but it has comparatively decreased over the years”.

Traditionally Kashmir has been abundant in water, as the cold region on the foothills of Himalayas used to witness heavy snow. But that is now changing due to global warming and climate change. Government has almost done nothing on the fronts of watershed and rain harvesting, which are considered effective tools for improving irrigation facilities. 

According to government figures, while 60 percent of Kashmir’s agricultural fields have an “assured means” of irrigation, 58 percent of the net area sown in both Jammu and Kashmir is rain fed.

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