Thanks to lower production cost, cherry cultivation is gaining popularity in Himachal Pradesh as a profitable alternative to other cash crops. Prunus avium, our common cherry, is a delicious fruit, rich in protein, sugar and minerals and has more calorific value than apple. It is grown in areas between 2,000 and 2,700 meters above sea-level, requiring 1,000-1,500 hours of chilling period during winters and the climate of Himachal Pradesh is most suited for its growth, pointed out JS Chandel of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan.
With over 2,000 hectares of land under cherry cultivation and production of 438 tonne in 2008, Himachal Pradesh that has emerged as the second largest cherry producing state in the country after Jammu and Kashmir. Of the total, about 420 tonne was grown in Shimla region alone in the cherry belts of Rampur, Narkanda, Rohru ,Kandayli, Kotgarh and Kotkhai.
One of the reasons for the popularity of cherries is that it provides supplementary income to growers as September is the month for apples while cherry blossoms in May-June. As cherry crop is ready much before its time for apple to blossom, cherry farming provided employment to 16 lakh people in the state last year, in marketing, packaging and direct sale to tourists.
Women, particularly in rural Himachal, have taken to cherry farming and marketing to supplement their family earning. The price of cherry at the Chandigarh fruit and vegetables market in Sector 26 is between Rs 250 and Rs 300 for a box of one kilogram.
Yudhvir Singh Rana, a cherry grower, told FE, ?A box of apple weighs around 20 kilograms but a box of cherries weighs around a kilogram, which is easy for women to carry around and sell.? One reason you would often find Himachal women standing on either side of the Kalka-Shimla highway in May and June when educational institutions close for summer, waiting for consumers.
Himachal Pradesh produced 698 tonne of cherry in 2007, but its production slumped to 455 tonne in 2008 due to dry weather. This year, cherry production is expected to cross the 700-tonne mark in view of favourable weather conditions.