Experiments of the past
three years have confirmed that the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam are suitable
for apple cultivation.
If all goes well,
commercial production of apples could begin in four to five years.
“We are undertaking
further study on the varieties that are suitable for the region. The outcome of
these studies is expected in a couple of years,” chief scientist of the Centre
for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, Ramesh Aggarwal, said. He
was on a visit to the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) at
Chintapalli in the Agency area of the district recently.
“Low chilling varieties
of apple saplings — Anna, Michael and Selection — were planted at RARS, in
2014. The results — the average number of fruits per tree was 35 and average
weight of each fruit was 53 gm,” Associate Director of Research, RARS, G. Jogi
Naidu, told The Hindu.
“We again planted new
varieties — Apple ‘A’ mark creeper, Apple Bilaspur and Nonisalan — in August
2016 and we are expecting good results. The CCMB distributed around 5,000
saplings to 100 tribal farmers in 2014 for cultivation in the Agency. Around
15,000 saplings were distributed to them recently,” he said.
“The results have shown
that the fruit has a sweet/sour taste. It is small in size,” said Mr. Naidu.
“The overall average
minimum temperatures in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district is in the
range of 4 to 17 degrees Celsius during winter. RARS is also growing wheat from
Indore and white rajma, chick pea, barley and oats on an experimental basis.”
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