 "Huge damage to crops in U'khand")
The apple grown in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh (the high altitude growing belt) is known for its flavour and colour. It is sold at a premium over the price of apples grown in the Shimla belt. Jagat Singh Negi, the MLA from Kinnaur, himself an apple grower, beside being deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly, said the entire upper reaches of the region had seen crops badly hit.
Kinnaur district is divided into three blocks - Pooh, Kalpa and Nichar. All of Pooh block is hugely affected. In some pockets, snowfall of three to five feet has been recorded. This had never happened earlier in June. At some places, the plants are almost dead and in others, up to half have died. This is also a long-term loss for farmers, as the gestation period of an apple tree is between five and eight years. An apple sapling costs about Rs 400. Besides apple, the crop of sweet peas has been wiped out. This was to be harvested in July. Nor is much left of the pulses crop.
A senior official of a private apple trading company surmised a crop loss of about 60 per cent in apples; the nomal Kinnaur production is about 40,000 tonnes annually. With a month left for harvest, weather conditions in the remaining period would be crucial in saving what was left, he said. In Uttarakhand, the initial estimate of 25-30 per cent of the cultivated crop being destroyed is a conservative estimate, say officials of the state's agriculture ministry. The land under cultivation in the state is 768,000 hectares (ha). The area under paddy is 32,922 ha and mostly in Garhwal; since this wasn't much affected, the damage here is limited.
However, at least half of the potato crop, cultivated over 15,500 ha is gone. Sugar cane, cultivated on 149,900 ha, is also likely to have been badly hit.
Mentha is also grown in the state and most of the crop was destroyed in the early rain.
The regional chamber of commerce says agriculture and allied services constitute 10.9 per cent of the gross state domestic product.