News Topic:J&K Department of Horticulture

Apple growers in several areas of southern Kashmir are increasingly concerned as a leaf miner pest continues to infect their orchards for the fourth consecutive year.

A remarkable trend is unfolding in Kashmir with farmers and horticulturists embracing exotic apple plant varieties over traditional ones.

J&K Government has announced the appointment of Chaman Lal Sharma as Director of Horticulture for Jammu and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat as Director of Horticulture for Kashmir.

The conversion from agriculture to horticulture has one simple reason as fruits bring more money to farmers than rice.

In Pulwama district, where apples and other fruits are cultivated on a large scale, there are thousands of canals in the district where only almonds are cultivated.

Horticulture Department Kashmir issued an advisory for the orchardists in order to prevent any damage to the fruit trees due to possible heavy rains and snowfall.

Farmers in J&K have been switching from paddy farming as the Union Territory has witnessed over 400 per cent increase in the area under horticulture since 1975.

Kashmir’s walnut is gasping for breath as the intrusion of the Californian walnut breed in Indian cities has cast a shadow on the indigenous produce.