Himachal to collaborate with New Zealand on fruit production

Shimla: In a bid to switch over to new practices of horticulture including apples and other fruits, Himachal Pradesh has decided to encourage institutional collaborations with New Zealand—one of the countries known for the export of fruits.

Till now, Himachal has been growing traditional apple varieties but slowly started shifting over to high-end practices of fruit cultivation including high-density plantations under a World Bank-funded project.

On Friday, Horticulture minister Jagat Singh Negi distributed master trainer certificates to as many as 30 officers and 25 farmers at Mashobra—a research station of the Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan.

The Institutional Master Trainers training was conducted by the International Expert from the New Zealand Plant Food And Research (NZPFR) Limited under the World Bank funded, HP Horticulture Development Project.

The technical expert from New Zealand Steph Montgomery Programme Manager, Jack Hughes- Plant Physiologist, Mike Nelson Nutrition expert, David Manktelow Plant Protection, Pathology provided detailed training to the participants on the establishment and management of High-Density Orchards. They also gave practical field demonstrations on the management of seedling-based trees.

“Main objective of hiring the experts is, strengthening the implementation capacities of the department of Horticulture and farmers for improvement in productivity of apple fruit,” he said, adding that dissemination of relevant information and advanced technology

for the establishment of high and medium density orchards and scientific management of existing orchards is also

important.