Experts for early harvesting of horticulture crops

Experts for early harvesting of horticulture crops
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Chatha (Jammu), April 22
With the possibility of rains in the next few days, the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu, has advised the fruit growers in the region to immediately harvest their horticulture crops like ber, papaya and loquat.

“Fruit growers are advised to harvest ber, loquat and papaya fruits in order to avoid the loss due to possibility of rains,” said a senior scientist, Agrometeorology Department, SKUAST. He added, “Weather is changing every day and the day temperature is lesser than the required, so the fruit growers should harvest their produce, otherwise they will have to suffer huge losses.” He further said during a survey conducted in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur districts, they found that ber, papaya and loquat were almost ripen and ready to harvest.

“Delay in this exercise at this time can increase the worries of the fruit growers,” he opined. About the growing mango crop, he said the recent rainfall on April 17 and 18 had caused maximum loss to the mango crop. “Mango crop is under the flowering stage and the rain at this stage has infected the crop,” said the expert.

He advised that the mango growers should remove malformed infected twinges from mango orchards, which would save them from further losses. The grape growers have also suffered losses due to the rainfall and if it occurred again, the entire fruit crop would be destroyed, the experts maintained. Even the Meteorology Department in its recent advisory report has forecasted that they were expecting rains in next few days.

Terming it the effect of the western disturbance, weathermen have forecasted that there would be rainfall in the next two-three days, the farming community should immediately make arrangements to save the crops.