Italian apple fails to take root in HP

Italian apple plants (or rootstocks) have not taken a liking to the Himalayan soil, as these imported plants have failed to grow in nurseries across Himachal Pradesh.

This comes as a setback to the Himachal Pradesh horticulture department which is trying to bring in the latest European and American apple varieties so that better apple could be produced here to compete in the global market.

Officials here said some 500 Italian rootstocks of ten apple varieties were imported on a trial basis but the success rate was very low in the hill state.

"The Italian plants (rootstocks) have not done well in the state nurseries. Our scientists are now trying to find out why this happened," said State Horticulture Department Director CR Sharma.

Rootstocks can be converted to any other apple variety by grafting a twig of the required variety. The Italian rootstocks were imported with the help of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "We have also recently imported rootstocks from America and Holland and are carefully watching their progress," he said.

With new apple varieties, from Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and China, entering the Indian markets, older varieties grown in India are finding it hard to compete with them.